The Truth Will Set You Free
by Zeao
Summary: Alfred grew up in a perfect world. The only continents he is aware of are North and South America, and it is all one land mass. His perfect reality is shattered when an airship crashes in his frontyard, and his older brother, Matthew, knows the whole crew. Suddenly he finds himself dragged along for a world revolution and quest for the truth.
1. A Shattered Reality

Okay, quick notes:

Steampunk-ish AU

Multiple pairings later, they will be pretty obvious and you will see them coming a mile away. If you don't agree with a pairing, then keep in mind that couples are not the center focus of this story, so no worries ^^

Yes, some characters will be OOC. But there are reasons for that *coughBACKSTORIEScough* so everything will be clear in time. And I will try to make sure that every character's basic qualities are the same.

All credit goes to Hidekaz Himaruya (日丸屋秀和)

* * *

Alfred led a very sheltered life.

He grew up in a good neighborhood on the outskirts of town. This meant he had a decently sized house with a big yard. There were flowers growing up a walkway out front; and in the summer, an inflatable pool could be seen in the back yard.

His days were spent riding around on his mountain bike, going to see his friends, or going to catch a movie. Sometimes, he would even sneak into the 'adult' sections of restaurants and drink with the people there. It was okay though, there was no alcohol.

If he was feeling particularly rebellious, he would sneak a girl home through his bedroom window. Once his older brother, Matthew, caught him and it was chaos for about ten minutes, but the girl was eventually sent walking home, even though it was eleven at night. It's okay though, there were no criminals.

It was weird to be raised by an older brother. It was highly uncommon for something so unorthodox to occur. But, seeing as his parents mysteriously disappeared when he was five, they had had no choice. And usually the government, led by the new dictator (long may he rule), would take care of orphans by putting them in shelters; but for some strange reason, an exception was made for Alfred and Matthew. What is stranger is that Alfred had never known he had a brother before his parents went missing, but he dismissed it as a fault in his memory.

This was perfectly fine with the both of them. Matthew made sure that Alfred grew up the way every young man should. He had never missed a day of school in his life, competent in mathematics, interested in science, and excelled in reading. He often wished that there was more science offered at his school, but there was hardly anything at all. That was okay though, it was not needed.

Everything anyone could possibly need was given to them by the government. For example, every home came with a radio. Since there would be no other way to receive important announcements, it was only fair that the government gave radios. Repairs for bicycles were always kept very cheap, water was always available from the tap, and the grocery stores were never short on reasonably priced food. School was free, college was free, life was perfect.

This is what Alfred grew up thinking.

Alfred grew up thinking that there was one continent on the face of the Earth. There was the continent of America, the Northern and Southern parts. The biggest debate of the decade was whether Central America deserved to be called its own region. Maps depicted this one big land mass and nothing else.

There were no history classes.

No one questioned the government, no one questioned anything.

Everyone was happy.

Alfred grew up happy. He w_as_ happy. He had everything he could ever want. A brother who loved him, girls lining up at his door, good grades, good looks, and college next summer. Until next he started school again, he was free to do as he wished with life.

At the moment, he desired to be sitting at the table waiting for Matthew to give him pancakes. There was nothing quite like pancakes as a late supper on a Saturday night.

"Mattie!" Alfred whined, with his cheek against the table.

Matthew turned around and brandished the spatula at him, saying, "Whining for me to hurry won't make me go any faster."

Once his back was turned again, Alfred mocked him silently.

"Don't mock me," Matthew said as he flipped a perfectly golden pancake over.

"You can't even see me!"

"That doesn't mean anything, I _know_ you," he replied, heaping the golden circles onto a plate, and then turning to put them on the table.

Matthew was still wearing his pajamas, and so was Alfred.

Somehow plain clothes like that did not suit him, in Alfred's opinion. They were just lacking something that made Matthew... Matthew.

Despite his brother's easygoing and gentle appearance, Alfred knew all too well that he was not at all as he appeared. Secretly, his brother was incredibly strong, fast, and smart. Matthew seemed to know things that no one else did, then always told Alfred to keep it a secret.

Alfred got really curious once when he was about ten and went through Matthew's closet. He had never seen clothes like those before. Black pants made of some sort of thick but smooth material, and it was covered in pockets and buckles; a purple shirt made of coarse and sturdy fabric, and had words sewed onto the back that he could not read; and a vest that was covered in straps and seemed to be made from the same material as the pants. The strangest things were a pair of boots. They looked like normal boots, but with screws coming out the sides of the soles, and they were _extremely_ heavy. Alfred had hauled the boots out to ask his brother what they were and where he got them (he wanted some!) but Matthew had turned pale and told Alfred to never tell anyone.

As a child, Alfred concluded that Matthew must be a super hero.

And the super hero was now sitting across from him, ready to eat pancakes on a darkening Saturday night.

"So, what are you going to do tomorrow?" Matthew asked casually.

Alfred shrugged, "I was thinking of going out with that girl again... Can you pass the syrup?"

Matthew handed the bottle to him and asked, "Would that be the girl I caught you with?"

The other boy rolled his eyes and replied, "I told you, I broke up with her a _long_ time ago."

"You should take your love life more seriously."

Alfred shot his brother a look from over his glasses. "Oh please, as if you haven't messed around with a girl or two before."

His brother's piece of pancake slipped off his fork as he jumped slightly. "No, Al, I can honestly say that I haven't."

Alfred was about to retaliate when he realized that he had never seen his brother bring a girl home, ever. _Is that because of me?_ Raising a little brother must be hard, could that be a reason for his lack of a love life?

Alfred set his fork down awkwardly. "Uhh Matthew, can I ask you something?"

The use of his full name made him even more nervous, usually Alfred would call him 'Mattie'. He knew this day would come eventually, he just did not think it would happen so soon...

Matthew set his fork down as well. "Of course, Al. What is it."

Alfred suddenly looked shy and he played with the hem of his white cotton shirt. "Umm... Isitbecauseofmethatyoudon'thavealife?" he asked quickly.

The older brother looked surprised, that was not the question he had been anticipating. "N- No, it's nothing like that, Alfred," he paused to swallow hard, "Actually... There _is_ something I need to tell you, about that."

Alfred looked up at his brother nervously. "Hey, if you need some time at night to go out and do stuff, I'll be fine here, I promise. I know you always worry because Mom and Dad disappeared, but the world is a much safer place now, so it's okay."

Matthew listened to the speech silently. _There's no way I can tell him now..._ And it was true. Alfred has such faith in the order of things. He had faith in the schools, in the government, in dictatorships, and in Matthew. There was far too much faith to destroy for Matthew to tell him the truth. The truth will not set you free on this land mass.

He smiled all the same at his brother's earnest attempt to make him happy and said, "Thank you."

Alfred grinned and resumed eating.

Matthew sighed internally and decided things could be worse. He could be on the run from the government and worrying about Alfred every second, but instead, he just had to worry about his brother's reaction to a much less important matter.

"Hey, Mattie," Alfred said.

Matthew came back down to Earth. "Huh? What?"

"You're staring out the window again." Alfred gave him a curious look. "You're acting a bit off this morning, are you okay?"

He nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine... Hey, what do you want for your birthday?"

Alfred was caught off-guard by the random change of topic, but answered all the same, "I don't really know... Maybe just go see a movie."

Matthew nodded and took a bite of his pancake. He was about to ask if that was all when he noticed a strange look cross Alfred's face.

"Al?" he asked in concern.

His brother's fork was hovering by his open mouth, but his eyes were transfixed on the window.

"What are you look-" he cut himself off as he glanced out the window.

_No... No, that's impossible..._

He stood up and ran for the door, throwing it open and watching the flaming chunk of metal fall from the sky. Matthew searched for the insignia through the angry haze of flames. He found what he was searching for and his heart nearly stopped.

_No._

It was not until Alfred joined him at the door that he realized that the flaming mass was going to crash in their yard.

Without a word, he grabbed his younger brother's wrist and ran into the basement, turned the light off, and closed the door.

"M-Mattie, what's going on?" Alfred asked fearfully.

Matthew stayed calm and held a finger up, signaling to give him a minute. He took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly.

Suddenly the entire house shuddered and they heard creaking coming from the walls around.

"Alfred, stay down here!" Matthew called to him as he ran back up the stairs.

And just like that, all the noise stopped and Alfred worriedly waited for the return of his brother. He had never seen a plane before, and something falling out of the sky was a complete mystery to him. Things like that just did not happen here. Alfred concluded that he must be dreaming.

He continued sitting patiently for a few more minutes, and when his brother never came back down, he grew concerned again.

He warily stood up and made his way up the stairs. He opened the door and peered around the corner anxiously. Seeing nothing, he slowly went to the front door and looked out the glass.

The giant pile of metal was smoldering silently on the front lawn and Matthew seemed to be struggling with something near it. It was too dark to make anything out, the fire was the only way to see anything at all.

Alfred open the door and ran over to get his brother away from the hot flames. The heat of it was scorching even from the door, he could not imagine how much worse it was closer.

"Stop! What are you doing?! We need to call the Peacekeepers!" He shouted.

"No Peacekeepers! There are people in here!" Matthew yelled back.

Alfred cringed as he realized that what he had been struggling with was an arm. Matthew dropped the limb in question and started feeling along what seemed to be a railing.

"If there are people in there, then what are you doing?!" Alfred ran over to the body, expecting it to be on fire, and someone to be writhing in agony, but he was surprised to find that the flames could not seem to get a hold on the person's clothing. And the person was looking calmly at him with calculating blue eyes. He was sitting cross-legged, with a foot jiggling impatiently, occasionally batting a flame away with his gloved hands.

"Oh, bonjour! You must be Alfred," the man said with a casual smile, as if he was not in the middle of a still-burning crash site.

"Uhh, y-yeah?" Alfred halted momentarily from the confusion.

"Found it!" Matthew called from a few yards away. There was a click and then the man leapt out of the alcove where he had been sitting.

He brushed himself off, then gathered his wavy blond hair up to examine the ends. "Ahh, they are singed."

Matthew rolled his eyes, "Is that really all you're worried about?"

"Mais bien sur, mon cher!" he said with a flourish of his hair.

"_Don't_ call me that." Matthew's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Fine, fine." He waved it off, then asked, "Have you happened to see- There he is."

From a different alcove, another man fell out onto the grass, panting hard. He seemed to be clutching a smaller mass to him.

Alfred just took everything in. The completely unharmed man that emerged from the fire, the fact that he seemed to be speaking some other language, and the fact that no one was concerned about the man who collapsed on the lawn.

"Are you okay?" the blond called over.

Still unable to speak, the man on the grass just gave a thumbs up and a weak smile, releasing the bundle that he was carrying.

The bundle was apparently a third man who was also panting.

"Oh good, he found Lovino."

Alfred just stared dumbly at everything. "Who... What..." He could not even properly finish his question.

The blond man slapped his forehead and said, "Oh how rude of me! Tres desole, I'm Francis Bonnefoy, that is Antonio Fernández Carriedo, and the small one is Lovino Vargas." He gestured airily to each in turn. "And you are?"

After a moment, he found his manners. "I'm-"

"He's my brother," Matthew said sharply, "That's all you need to know."

Francis gave Matthew an appraising look before returning his attention to Alfred. "So _this _is your infamous little brother."

"Yes. And he and I will be going back inside. I'd suggest you signal Arthur, good luck." He made to grab Alfred's wrist and drag him back inside, but he was stopped when Francis stepped in front of him in one long stride.

"Mais mon cher, tu me manques... Il a été un long temps, n'est-ce pas?"

Matthew snorted. "If you think a few sappy words are going to win me over, then you have another thing coming."

Francis effectively closed any space that there had previously been between them. He placed one gloved hand on Matthew's hip and the other under his chin, forcing the two pairs of blue eyes to meet. Matthew dropped Alfred's hand and tensed at the other man's touch.

"I missed you, my dear. It has been much too long."

For one horrible moment, Alfred thought the two were going to kiss, but Francis simply placed his forehead against Matthew's and the taller man closed his eyes, seeming to melt into the shorter one. "I know why you had to leave, but don't you think it's time you come back home? Look at that boy, Mathieu, he is practically a man now."

Matthew glanced briefly at Alfred and he saw tears in his older brother's eyes. Then he pulled Francis into a passionate embrace, burying his head into the taller man's shoulder. Francis wrapped both his arms around him and stroked his wavy hair soothingly as he cried.

"Don't mind them," A voice from behind Alfred said, "Their relationship is complicated."

Alfred turned to look at the owner of such a light-hearted voice, surprised to see that the man who collapsed earlier was clearly just fine now. He was standing with the shorter man seemingly asleep on his back.

He could think of nothing else to say other than, "Who _are_ you guys?"

Antonio chuckled. "Well, I believe that is up for your brother to tell you, it isn't really my place to tell you who _he_ is. But Francis, Lovino, and I are aviators. We are the _Bretagne_ crew."

Alfred looked as confused as ever. "Aviator?"

Antonio outright laughed, "What? I know you've never seen an airship, but you know what a plane is, doncha?"

"A plain? Like, a meadow? Are you messing with me?"

The other man stopped abruptly. "Don't even tell me they don't have airplanes anymore."

"They haven't had airplanes here for about ten years," Matthew informed him, pulling away from Francis and wiping his face.

"Realmente?" Antonio adjusted the figure draped across his back.

Matthew just nodded, then asked, "Where's Gilbert? And Ludwig and Feliciano?"

Francis suddenly looked a little sheepish. "I told you that I wouldn't even let Gilbert on my ship anymore if that's what it would take... Gilbert joined his brother, and Feliciano obviously went with him."

Alfred was steadily feeling more and more out of the loop. He wanted to know who these people are, where they came from, how they knew Matthew, what language Francis and Antonio were speaking, what a plane was, and what this giant burning thing on his lawn was.

Seeming to ignore everything Francis told him, Matthew just said, "Sorry about your ship... Is Arthur nearby?"

Francis shook his head, "Arthur joined the mermaids..."

Antonio rolled his eyes and said, "Hopefully Ludwig will be coming for us soon." They both looked up at the sky as though they were expecting something.

Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by sirens wailing in the distance.

Matthew paled and turned to Alfred. "Al, do you trust me?" he asked urgently.

"Of course," Alfred began without hesitation, "But-"

"Okay, then listen, we need to flag someone down. Go into my closet and bring out all the weird-looking clothes. The boots too. I think you found them all when you were a kid. Go, quickly! I'll explain later, I promise!" He gestured impatiently to the house and Alfred went in and started scrambling around to find everything as fast as he could.

Matthew turned to Francis. "I am coming with you."

Francis looked like a great burden had been lifted off of his shoulders, and he picked Matthew up and spun him around.

"Oh, Mathieu, you have no idea how much I missed you. I figured that I would never see you again, but I still told Gilbert to leave! Are you really going to come with us?"

Once Matthew had both his feet on the ground again, he straightened himself out and nodded. "Yes, but on one... Two conditions."

Some of the happiness seemed to melt off Francis' face, but he still looked gleeful all the same. "What are these conditions?"

Matthew held up one finger. "One, I am your friend, and your friend only," he held up a second finger, "Al comes with me and stays with me. I decide where he goes, what he does, and who he swears his allegiance to."

The two blue-eyed men sized each other up for a moment, but Francis realized that there was little room for compromise in this bargain.

"How about we talk later and you vouch for the kid."

He mulled it over for a moment. "Fine."

Alfred came back out carrying the black boots, black pants, purple shirt, and black vest.

"Here," he said breathlessly, handing everything over to his brother.

"Thanks, Al. Sorry for the chaos, I'll explain everything later."

Alfred nodded then asked, "What's with those boots? They're as heavy as bricks!"

"Iron soles," Francis explained, bending his knee so he could tap the bottom.

Alfred gave Francis, then Matthew a questioning look. Francis chuckled and Matthew rolled his eyes as he watched his friend, so Alfred let it go.

To his horror, Matthew started to strip in the middle of the lawn. Taking everything off but his boxers, and putting the strange array of clothing on, as if all the buckles and straps were second nature. Francis smoothed the back of his vest out once he pulled it on. "They still fit you perfectly," he said, as if slightly surprised.

The sirens in the distance seemed to be getting steadily louder and they all knew help would be coming shortly if they did not do something. Alfred got the feeling that this is something that the government should not be called for.

Suddenly the moon was obscured by a larger version of the smoldering hunk of metal on the lawn, and everyone looked up in surprise.

"Parfait," Francis whispered.

While everyone's gaze was still drawn upward, Matthew grabbed Alfred's shoulders and made him face him.

"Listen to me, I'm sorry, but I can't give you a choice in this. I am leaving here and you are coming with me. You are going to come with us for a week, and after that, you can decide whether you want to join us or be relocated. There's no time for explanations, that airship is going to land soon and you are going to get on. Do you understand?"

Alfred just nodded dumbly as he watched the plane from above come skidding to a halt down on the street.

A man with red hair and golden eyes appeared on a railing and gestured wildly for them to come over. Matthew and Antonio started running toward him and were helped over the railing.

Francis placed a hand on Alfred's shoulder. "Mon ami, you are in for the ride of a life time."

Then he too ran toward the enthusiastic redhead, with Alfred not far behind. Matthew pulled them both over the railing and then they took off and Alfred clung to the railing for dear life as the airship lurched, and they took off.

The ground below flew away from them, and Alfred could not find a way to stand without releasing the railing. The very sight of the ground rushing away made him feel sick and light-headed. They flew up above great puffy clouds, getting a little damp in the process, but eventually they leveled out.

The first thing Alfred noticed was that no one else had to hold onto the railing, even during ascent, and now they were all trying not to laugh at him.

"Don't worry," Matthew assured him, "You'll get your airlegs eventually."

"The key word being eventually," Francis added unhelpfully.

Matthew shot him a disparaging look and he continued, "You should get some sleep, and we'll sort through everything in the morning."

"But you promised me you would explain everything!" Alfred protested.

Matthew sighed and ran a hand through his windswept hair. "Look, you might get sick from the altitude. It's bad for your body. If you don't get enough sleep, you will get a fever. I'll still be here in the morning, I assure you."

Alfred opened his mouth to protest again, but he already felt sick as it was. So he just nodded and gratefully accepted Matthew's arm when he offered it.

As he finally laid down in a soft bed, he wondered only vaguely how Matthew knew his way around this unfamiliar ship, before he drifted off into a turbulent sleep.

* * *

Hello ^^

I've never written anything like this before, so any feedback you have will be greatly appreciated =]

On another note, I've succumbed to random bouts of writer's block lately, so updates for this may be irregular, don't worry, even if it has been a few weeks, this fic will not be abandoned ^^


	2. The Morning Sky

Chapter 2: The Morning Sky

* * *

Alfred was half asleep when Matthew crept into his room. The opening of the door let a weak ray of light from the outside in, but the sun had not yet risen to its full glory.

Matthew smiled at the sight of his brother sleeping soundly. He remembered his first time on an airship, it seemed so long ago... His smile slipped a little. Alfred's life would never be the same from here on out. He had told his brother that he could be relocated after a week if he wanted to, but Matthew and the _Bretagne_ crew knew that it was not possible. The government would never allow _his_ brother, of all people, to be relocated.

Matthew shrugged his thoughts off, he had to put a brave face on for Alfred. He knew from experience that he was going to be confused and scared. He crossed the metal floor, his iron-soled boots not making a sound against it.

He gently shook Alfred's shoulder and whispered, "Al."

"Mmmpfff," he mumbled and rolled over.

He shook the shoulder a little harder. "Al, come on, you have to see something!"

Alfred pulled the blankets up over his head.

"Want a hamburger?"

"Hamburgers?!" Alfred sat up quickly and started feeling around for his glasses.

"I don't actually have any..." Matthew began sheepishly, "But I have something nearly as good,"

Alfred's face fell and he scowled up at his brother before he said, "I'm going back to bed."

Suddenly there was a gust of wind and the airship lurched to the side. Being used to these things, Matthew just tensed and kept his balance while the ship righted itself. Alfred was not so lucky and was thrown out of bed, hitting his cheek against the unforgiving metal of his brother's boot.

"Ow!" he said indignantly.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Matthew said frantically.

Alfred rubbed his red cheek and pulled himself back onto the bed. As he woke up properly, he took a look around and his eyes widened. His hand slipped off his face.

"That wasn't a dream?" he asked, looking at Matthew with a helpless look on his face.

A pang of sympathy hit Matthew and he shook his head sadly. "No... It wasn't..."

Alfred buried his face in his hands.

Matthew was alarmed at his brother's actions, but if he needed to cry, Matthew would let him be.

"Do you want to be left alone for awhile?" he asked gently.

Alfred shook his head and took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly.

Deciding he would try to cheer his brother up, Matthew said, "Come on, I have something to show you."

Alfred removed his face from his palms and got up silently. He seemed to pull himself together and he followed his brother out the door. The metal floor was freezing against his bare feet, but he ignored it.

"Hold onto the railing," Matthew advised. Then as an afterthought he added, "And don't look down yet."

Alfred nodded and kept a hand on the railing. They walked along a kind of porch attached to the main body of the ship. They passed a few bolted doors and many ladders. Everything was metal and held together by thick screws and bolts. Alfred looked at his surroundings with increasing curiosity. He always had an interest in science and the way things worked, so his confusion was slowly replaced with fascination. He really wanted to look over the railing, but he knew the sight might make him sick.

Alfred did a double take as something resembling a giant fish fin swept up through the clouds, then disappeared back into the puffy whiteness. He stopped and looked down the side of the ship without thinking. There was a giant gear that attached to the fin-thing, allowing the fin to wave back and forth, as if the ship was swimming in the air. Completely enthralled, he watched its movements for a minute before looking farther down the hull of the ship. More of the fins were spaced at even intervals, and they all moved in unison. Except one at the back that seemed to be lagging, but the morning light was still scarce, so it may have just been his imagination.

"Matthew... What... Where _are_ we?" he asked in awe, his gaze never leaving the fins.

Matthew looked back and saw that his brother was a small ways behind him. He chuckled to himself and doubled back. That had been his reaction too.

"They're not very aerodynamic, but they sure give the ship stability," he said, gesturing to the giant metal gears down below.

"Aerodynamic," he repeated experimentally, the foreign word stumbling out of his mouth.

Matthew grinned. "Yup, and-"

He stopped as the first real ray of light made its way up through the clouds.

"Oh! Al, come on! Quick!"

Matthew turned around and started walking more quickly toward one of the ladders, with Alfred following close behind. He was glad to see that his brother's enthusiasm had returned.

Once they were at the top of the ladder, there was another smaller balcony thing. Matthew grasped the railing and hauled himself onto it with ease, then he turned to help Alfred up as well. Once they were both up, Matthew unbolted the nearest door and motioned for Alfred to go in quickly. He rebolted the door and immediately went toward the ladder in the middle of the room. Alfred looked to the ceiling where a slightly rusted trapdoor sat. Matthew climbed up and ducked quickly as it swung open instead of out.

"Shit!" he swore as it narrowly missed his head, then he muttered, "I always forget it does that."

Then he climbed up through the door and Alfred followed. Now they were in an open space that seemed to be at the top of the ship. It was just a flat enclosed space that covered the entire area, like the top deck of a ship.

Alfred could not resist looking down over the slightly higher railing. He saw the wrap-around balcony that he had just been standing on and then the one below it. The layers made it look like some sort of incredibly unappetizing metal cake. He chuckled at his mental comparison.

A little thrill went through him as wind whipped through his hair, and he was glad that he had forgotten his glasses in the room he had been sleeping in, as they surely would have been blown of his face.

Matthew watched his brother's excitement with a small smile. His guilt for dragging Alfred out of his normal life was steadily dissipating. When the wind blew past them, he noted that Alfred looked perfectly at home on top of the airship and he grinned. Then he looked around to find east.

"Hey Al, look over there," Matthew said, gesturing to his right.

Alfred glanced at him, then moved so he was holding onto the eastern railing.

As if on cue, an orange ball of light peeked above the clouds, casting a golden haze over everything in sight. Pink and yellow seeped slowly up into the sky, painting the tops of the clouds with their color. A small band of red sat just at the cloud level, and this made Matthew slightly concerned, but Alfred could not help but gape at the sight.

He really should have shielded his eyes from the increasing brightness, but he did not want to miss a second of it.

"Welcome to the _Bismarck,_ Al," Matthew said with a smile.

Alfred tore his gaze from the sunrise to ask, "I thought we were on the _Bretagne_?"

Matthew shook his head. "No, that was the ship that crashed... We got picked up by Francis' friend Gilbert."

"Francis is the blond one, right?" Alfred clarified.

"Yeah..." Matthew paused, and then he asked, "Do you still want me to explain everything to you?"

Alfred nodded eagerly, and then shivered slightly.

Realizing that his brother was still in his pajamas from yesterday, Matthew said, "Oh sorry! We can go back inside!"

He turned to the trapdoor again, but Alfred stopped him.

"Nah..." he said, his gaze returning to the sunrise. "I like it here."

Matthew thought about insisting that they go down, but Alfred looked so happy up there that he did not have the heart to do it. Instead, Matthew took his vest off and offered it to him.

He accepted it gratefully and his eyes lingered over the strange language on the back before he pulled it on.

"What do those words mean? Is that the language that Francis and Antonio were speaking?"

Matthew rolled his purple sleeves up and shook his head. "No, it says _A Mari Usque Ad Mare_. It's Latin and it means From Sea to Sea."

Alfred looked at him blankly and Matthew decided to elaborate more.

"English isn't the only language. Theres dozens of others... Sometimes I forget how little people that grew up in America know..." he sighed before he continued, "Francis speaks French, Antonio speaks Spanish, Ludwig and Gilbert speak German, and Feliciano and Lovino speak Italian," he explained, rather unhelpfully.

Alfred decided that nodding would be easier than trying to have his brother explain more.

"Oh and Alfred, there's uhh... There's something you should know about Mom and Dad... That would be the best place to start explaining everything."

Sensing that this would be another shock, Alfred sat down and crossed his legs, pulling the vest tighter around him.

"Is this about what really happened to them?" he asked.

Matthew nodded gravely and sat down across from him. "First of all, I'm sorry that you had to find out like this, but I'm actually only your half-brother... We have the same mom, but different dads... My dad died when I was really young and then our mom and your dad met. I wanted to keep my last name the same though, so that's why mine is Williams and yours is Jones." Matthew looked at if he was ready to be punched or yelled at.

Alfred shrugged and said, "Yeah, I kinda figured that much... But what happened to mom and dad?"

Matthew seemed surprised that he just dismissed that, but he continued all the same, "It all started when the Communists took over. Communists are people that think the government should be able to control absolutely everything," he explained when Alfred looked confused, "There were people who still wanted the old government back. Our parents were part of that group, but the government didn't want any resistance. So, they went around killing as many people as they could. The really smart people found ways to escape, and our parents made the first airships-"

"Wait. Our parents made one of _these_?" Alfred asked in awe.

Matthew chuckled and said, "Okay, they were more like fancy blimps."

Alfred nodded in understanding. He had seen blimps in movies.

"Anyway, people who could run, maintain, and fight to protect these airships became the first Aviators. So our parents made the first Aviation crew, and they became the de facto resistance leaders. And I was originally their mechanic. But then, mom got pregnant and we didn't have any doctors, so she had to go back to America to have you in secret. But the government caught them. They killed both of them and then contacted my airship," he grimaced as he recalled the more gruesome details, "Basically, they said if I swore allegiance to them, I could come back down and raise you, or they would kill you as well."

Alfred was completely captivated by the story by now.

"So, I came back and raised you when you were about five. Doing that caused a lot of trouble though, because it's taboo among Aviators to swear allegiance to the American government... I thought that Francis was going to hate me for sure..." he trailed off and he gave Alfred a helpless kind of look.

"Was Francis part of mom and dad's crew too?" Alfred asked excitedly.

Slightly taken aback by his brother's excitement, Matthew said, "Yeah. Gilbert, Antonio, and Arthur were at one point too, but I guess there has been some rearranging since I left."

"Who's Arthur?" Alfred was getting more and more curious by the minute.

"He's... Umm... I don't even know how to explain him. I'm sure you're going to meet him at some point though."

"That is so _cool_!" Alfred exclaimed.

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "You aren't scared?"

His brother shook his head and practically bounced up and down with excitment. "Dude, this is just like the movies! And in the movies, the rookie guy always gets to be the hero! That means I get to be the hero!"

Matthew looked at him dumbly for a moment before he asked, "That kind of isn't the point to all of this..."

"I know, I know," Alfred said, waving him off, "But when do we take down the bad guys?"

"Bad guys?"

"Yeah! The American government! Wait, that _is _ what we're gonna do right?" he asked, getting ever-more excited.

"Eventually, yes. But-"

Alfred jumped up and did a fist pump. "Yes! I can't believe something like this is actually happening to me!"

Matthew stood up and put his hands on Alfred's shoulders to make him calm down. "Alfred, this isn't a game and this isn't a joke. People have _died_. Mom and dad died, and they were the best there were. We can't just swoop in and save the day."

Alfred looked slightly put-out, but still excited all the same.

"Do you have an army and everything?"

Matthew sighed. This conversation was going nowhere. "Al, do you know what diplomacy is?"

Alfred nodded, and said, "Of course I do. It's when representatives from North and South America get together and they talk about politics stuff."

"Yes, so we are going to try to get a representative from the Rebellion in their diplomatic circle. If we do that first, then it might prevent all-out war. Sadly, we both know that they could beat us."

Alfred thought all of that over for a minute. "But what if that doesn't work?"

"Then it's war. And we cross our fingers, hope for the best, and train as hard as possible so we are ready when the time comes."

Both brothers fell silent, unsure of what to say.

The sun was fully burning in the sky by the time the two were done talking. The colors from earlier were gone, but the golden haze still lingered in the morning air.

They jumped as the trap door opened and the red-head who helped everyone over the railing yesterday appeared.

"Thought I'd find you two up here. Breakfast is ready," he said with a smile.

Matthew smiled back and replied, "Thanks Feliciano, your cooking is always the best."

Feliciano laughed and ducked back down to inform the rest of the crew.

"Oh, wait!" Matthew called.

He popped back up. "Hmm?"

"Please tell Ludwig thanks for letting me on his ship. And if he needs help fixing that lagging fin, I'll help."

Feliciano smiled softly and said, "It's good to have you back, Mat."

Matthew nodded and replied, "It's good to be back."

Then he ducked down again and they could hear him disappear back into the depths of the ship.

Matthew clapped Alfred's shoulder and said, "Well, it looks like it's time for breakfast. But we need to get you some real clothes first."

Alfred looked down sheepishly at his striped pajamas.

The brothers went back down to the room Alfred had slept in and Matthew told him to stay put while he tracked Francis down.

While Alfred sat on the bed he mused that it was actually pretty comfortable. And it was actually fairly warm in the room, despite the chilly air outside. He decided to search for his glasses and put them on so he would not forget them again.

The metal walls were completely bare, except for something that looked like a clock on the back side of the door, and an actual clock on the wall opposite the bed. There was a sturdy wooden bedside table next to the bed, and there was no other furniture besides that.

Matthew came back with Francis not far behind. They were bickering in the strange language that Alfred decided must be French.

When Matthew noticed Alfred fidgeting uncomfortably, he kicked Francis out of the room.

"Sorry about that... Like Antonio said, our relationship is complicated," he said, handing the pile of clothes over to Alfred.

Normally, he would be very curious about Francis, but he was willing to give Matthew his privacy. Especially considering that he was entering a world he knew nothing about, and things may seem more serious than they actually are. So, Alfred just nodded and set the clothes on the bed so he could look at the individual articles. Matthew set a pair of the heavy boots down in front of the bed and observed Alfred's examination.

There was a blue button-up shirt that seemed to be made out of the same thick, coarse material as Matthew's purple one. There was also a smaller version of the black pants with all the buttons and pockets, but his pants had chains resembling bike chains criss-crossing in the back, and the thick belt had a gun holster on one side and a sword sheath on the other. His own vest was also black, and made out of the same material as the pants, but there were no words embroidered on the back. There was also a pair of black gloves that went a little past his elbow. They seemed to have rods of some kind on the sides. There was an open V that went over the forearm, and the sides were held together with bands crossing in random patterns across the gap.

When Alfred gave Matthew a questioning look, Matthew chuckled and said, "I'll show you what they all do after breakfast."

Alfred just nodded and took the opportunity to examine the boots. They were the weirdest of all. Unlike Matthew's, which had screws coming out the sides of the soles, these had a strap that went around the bottom of the boot, and then buckled at the top. They were tall enough to go up past his knees by a few inches. Like the gloves, there was an open V in the back with the straps holding the sides together. Up by the space where his knee would be, there was what looked like a small clock sewn onto the outside. Instead of laces, there were a series of buckles in the front.

He picked a boot up to look at the 'clock'.

"That's a pressure gauge," Matthew explained, "That way, when the ship jolts or goes up, it will stop your knees from buckling. That's why the boots are so high, too."

Alfred had long since accepted that sometimes things would not make much more sense if they were explained, but he had to know about the iron soles.

"And why are the soles iron?"

"Well," Matthew rubbed the back of his neck nervously and explained, "Even though there are railings, people still go overboard... So the soles are to add more weight to keep you on your feet... It helps when the wind blows or you're doing something outside and the ship lurches."

Matthew turned around to give his brother some privacy as Alfred pulled his shirt and pants off.

"There are boxers there too," Matthew informed him.

There was a moment of silence, there was not even any rustling.

"This may sound like a dumb question, but... What on Earth do I put on first?"

Matthew refrained- with success- from chuckling at his brother's confusion. It was hilarious, though it was a valid question.

"Okay, the boots actually go on first. Undo the buckles to about halfway down and you shouldn't have an issue. Don't mind the straps in the back, and try not to touch the gauge, it's very pressure-sensitive," he paused so his instructions could be followed, "Next you put the gloves on, mind the rods in the sides, and make sure you fasten the clip at the top tightly. Then you put the shirt on, and you don't have to button it up all the way because it's pretty stiff and it might chaffe," he paused again, "Then the pants, you can unhook the holster and the sheath, you won't need them. At the bottom of the pantlegs, there is a strap that will go around the boot so that the pants will stay down. Oh, and tuck the shirt in, you don't want that blowing around. Then you put the vest on and you're all set."

After a few more moments of snapping from buckles and rustling from clothes, Alfred said, "Okay."

Matthew turned around to see if he did it correctly.

"I feel ridiculous," Alfred admitted under his brother's appraising gaze.

"I felt the same way, but after awhile, you don't feel right unless you're wearing them," Matthew said with a chuckle.

Alfred flexed his gloved fingers experimentally and asked, "What's the deal with the gloves?"

Matthew held up his own to show him as he explained, "Believe it or not, they are made of iron. Really really thin strands of iron are woven together, and then the sides have iron rods going down them. That's mostly for the benefit of swordfighters though... It protects your arms as much as possible while still giving hands flexibility."

Alfred looked at them with a new respect and examined the straps on his forearm, "Why is everything iron?"

Matthew was secretly enjoying being able to explain everything to his brother, who was always the one to be good at everything. He continued his explanation with: "Well, one is for the weight, but iron is also magnetic."

Alfred gave him a questioning look and Matthew glanced at the clock on the wall, and then waved him off. "Like I said, I'll show you how it all works after breakfast."

Then he went over to the door and motioned for Alfred to come with him.

He took a step forward and nearly fell on his face from the weight of the boots. _Holy shit! They make it look easy!_

Matthew could not help but to burst out laughing from the look on his brother's face.

Alfred looked at him reproachfully.

"I-I'm sorry Al!" he said through his laughter.

"You did that on purpose!" Alfred accused.

Matthew cracked up harder at that and he wordlessly pointed to the buckles resting at the top of his feet, as he leaned against the doorway for support.

Alfred continued to look sulky, but he undid the clasps and then lifted his foot up experimentally. The iron sole came off. He did the same for the other one and then walked out the door without sparing a glance for his still chuckling brother.

"You are _not_ funny," Alfred informed him.

_No, but you sure are._ Matthew thought, but he kept that comment to himself.

As Matthew took the lead, he went the opposite way that they had gone that morning.

Alfred was pleased to note that the boots were much lighter and the clothing was surprisingly warm. He felt as if the wind was blowing through him rather than past him, and there was much less pull on these clothes than on his pajamas.

The pair was intercepted by someone calling them from the upper balcony.

"Hey! They're looking for you!" a stern voice called.

"Sorry Ludwig, my brother hasn't ever had these clothes before," Matthew called back.

The man- apparently Ludwig- hopped over the railing and climbed down the ladder with practiced ease.

Alfred and Ludwig sized each other up silently.

Alfred noted that Ludwig's black shirt was buttonless and sleeveless, and he wasn't wearing a vest. His boots were like his brother's boots and had screws rather than buckles holding the iron soles on. He also noticed a rectangular tattoo on his upper arm, above the top of the gloves, that was made of three horizontal stripes. The first stripe was black, the second was red, and the third was yellow.

Ludwig finished his silent examination with an approving nod, then he turned back to Matthew.

"What job do you think he would be best suited for?"

Matthew thought for a moment. "He has an interest in science, so we could try his hand at mechanics. But he may be better suited to fighting."

Ludwig nodded and said, "Yes, I thought as much."

Alfred was trying to figure out what a mechanic was. He knew that back in America mechanics worked on bikes, but he somehow doubted that mechanics worked on bikes on airships.

"How is the lagging fin, by the way?" Matthew asked, as the group progressed toward a trapdoor further down the balcony.

"I fixed it, the gears just got a bit rusty. We've been using the clouds as cover a lot lately."

Matthew bent down to open another trapdoor that was at the very end of the balcony. They all climbed down the ladder and Alfred assumed that they were now in the belly of the ship. The first thing he noticed was the lights. _So there_ is_ electricity._ And the second thing he noticed was the smell of something amazing cooking. It smelled like bacon, eggs, toast, sausage, and coffee.

Ludwig took the lead and the brothers followed him halfway down the hallway before they reached a giant bolted door. He heaved it aside and let the two smaller men in before he slid it back into place.

Francis, Antonio, Feliciano, Lovino, and a man with white hair that Alfred did not know yet were seated at a long rectangular table.

"Ah, Mathieu, I found your hat," Francis said, tossing him a brown bundle.

Matthew suddenly brightened and caught the object. "Thanks," he said happily, and he immediately clipped it around his neck, but let the hat rest on the back of his neck.

Alfred looked at it curiously. It looked like the kind of hat that people in the arctic wore to keep their head and ears warm. But it had strange looking goggle things attached to them.

Feliciano clapped his hands together in excitement. "It's so great to have everyone together again!" he declared.

Francis was sitting at the head of the table and he pulled the seat next to him out. Matthew went over to sit in it, but he turned to Feliciano, who was sitting next to him, first. The question he was about to ask was not necessary; Feliciano got up and switched to the other side of the table to sit unnecessarily close to Ludwig, who turned slightly pink. Matthew smiled a thank you, and then motioned for Alfred to sit next to him.

"Thanks," Alfred said to Feliciano, who just nodded and started helping himself.

Alfred's nose was correct about breakfast. There was tons of bacon, eggs, and sausage. Once everyone filled their plates, a coffee pot was passed around, then was followed by cream and sugar. It hit Alfred at this moment that _everything_ in the ship was made of metal. The plates, silverware, and cups were all metal. Though it seemed to be a different metal than iron. It was lighter and more silvery. He shrugged it off as normal and worked his way through a pile of bacon. Everyone was digging in and chatting contentedly when Alfred was elbowed.

He turned to see it was the white-haired man whom he had not yet met.

"So, you're Mat's brother?" he asked conversationally.

With a mouth full of food, Alfred just nodded.

"And Alfred's your name?"

Another nod.

"You know that no one cares about manners here, right?"

Alfred swallowed then smiled. "Habit," he said apologetically.

The man laughed heartily and clapped him on the back. "Oh don't you worry, we'll break you of that in no time!"

Matthew noticed the conversation and leaned forward to make eye contact with the white-haired man.

"Sorry Gilbert, I forgot you haven't met him yet. Alfred, this is Gilbert Beilschmidt. Gilbert, this is my brother, Alfred Jones."

Gilbert gave Alfred a sly glance before winking at Matthew and saying: "He is a fine looking guy."

Matthew narrowed his eyes at him. "Don't you even _dare._"

"Vraiment, Gilbert? Vraiment?" Francis asked at the same time.

Gilbert just cackled uncontrollably.

Ludwig sighed and then stood up. He was done eating, but he drained his coffee quickly.

He made his way over to his hysterical brother, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled him up.

"Excuse my brother, he is going to make himself productive now," Ludwig said to the room at large, but it was mostly aimed at Alfred.

Having said that, Ludwig half led and half pulled his still-laughing brother out the door.

"That happens all the time, don't worry about it," Antonio said over the table to Alfred.

"Really, it does," Feliciano added cheerily.

Francis was chuckling at the end of the table. "It's almost like nothing has changed," he commented with a smile.

Matthew smiled begrudginly, but then addressed Lovino. "How are you feeling?"

"Could be worse," he grumbled, "The smoke just got me."

His voice did sound a bit raspy.

Antonio nodded and said, "I'm glad Feliciano is here so he doesn't have to do any work alone- Ow!"

Lovino mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like: "Stupid tomato bastard."

Matthew rolled his eyes and Alfred glanced at him with the intention of asking if that was normal too.

"Don't mind them either, Al. Come to think of it, just don't question any weird things that these people do," he said.

Francis and Feliciano chuckled appreciatively.

Alfred shrugged and continued eating.

Once everyone was done eating and a second round of coffee was offered, everyone sat around lazily and chatted.

"Feliciano, could you please tell Ludwig that Alfred will need a goggle hat like mine? The prescription for the lenses is the same. And I'll need a new pair of gloves as well... Mine went missing."

Feliciano nodded in a business-like fashion. "Ve, okay. We will need to stop off at Felicks' anyway."

"Goggle hat?" Alfred asked curiously.

Matthew nodded and pointed to the hat hanging off the back of his neck. "They replace glasses."

"Cool," Alfred said with another interested look at the hat.

"Mathieu, I'll see if I can find your spare," Francis offered.

Matthew gave him an appreciative look then asked the group at large, "So, what's the plan?"

It was Feliciano who responded, "Well, the first thing we need to do is swear you back in... Who are you pledging to? I don't think Ludwig would mind if you stayed on this ship, but I think Francis needs a better mechanic," he shot a teasing look toward the blond.

Francis gave him a look, "Yes, we all know I'm not as good a mechanic as ton cher Ludwig or mon cher Mathieu. I've been down a fighter altogether since Gilbert."

Matthew gave Francis an apologetic look and then turned to Feliciano. "I'm swearing allegiance to the _Bretagne_."

Francis tried to hide the smile that crept up his face, but Feliciano looked confused.

"Don't you mean you're swearing allegiance to Francis?" he asked.

"Non, he... He has no allegiance to me personally. He is swearing to the crew, more specifically, for the cause of the crew," Francis answered for him.

Feliciano looked thoughtful for a minute, then nodded. "That certainly seems fair. I always thought it was unfair for mechanics to swear allegiance to captains... If you think about it, the ship is truly the mechanic's."

Antonio chuckled slightly. "We always refer to this ship as Ludwig's anyway."

Francis nodded and said, "Oui, but if it is anyone's ship, it is Matheiu's ship."

Alfred looked at Matthew questioningly, but he was not paying attention.

"Just because my parents built this ship doesn't make it mine. Ludwig has been taking care of it all these years, so it's fair to say that it is his ship... I haven't even been around for the past ten years."

The door slid open again and Ludwig came back in. "I'm sure you're worried that you're not one of us anymore, but I think that swearing allegiances is unnecessary. You're still one of us with or without oaths," Ludwig said nonchalantly.

Matthew had turned to listen when Ludwig started speaking. By the time he was done, Matthew looked utterly moved. "Thank you." Was all he could say.

Feliciano gave Ludwig an admiring look and then turned to Alfred.

"And what about you?"

Alfred had not even thought about it and he looked to his brother helplessly.

"I'm vouching for him," Matthew said.

Francis and Antonio nodded while Ludwig gave Matthew an approving look.

"So, Alfred," Ludwig began, "How do you feel about science?"

"I love science," Alfred replied, brightening at the mention of it.

Matthew and Ludwig glanced at each other and smiled.

* * *

Hello again ^^

The first chapter of this got a lot of views really quickly o.O

And then I got two awesome reviews!

So then I got enough drive to beat the writer's block ^^

And I posted this a little early!

I'd still like to hear if you guys like the way this is going. I love reviews, but be warned that I reply to my reviews and I'm really chatty about absolutely everything, and it may not even be relevant to fanfiction at all... Yeah T_T


	3. Old Friends and New Friends

Chapter 3: Old Friends and New Friends

* * *

It did not take long for Alfred to decide that he did not like science as much as he had previously thought.

Ludwig and Matthew brought him to the engine room. At first, he was endlessly fascinated by everything. It was all gears and bolts and screws in perfect sync, and moving together as one large unit, like the inner workings of a clock. His mentors allowed him to stand at the center of the room, turning around slowly and taking it all in. Steam valves hissed, gears shifted, levers clicked, pulleys creaked, and a thin film of condensation covered everything from the steam, making everything shiny. The places where the fins were attached had giant gears on axises lined up against both walls. As the gears shifted first one way, then the other, they clicked into place smoothly and allowed a gust of the cold sky air in. In the far back was a sort of propeller that helped the fins push the boat along. It was completely unlike anything Alfred had ever seen. It was not as awesome as watching the sunrise, but it was still pretty amazing.

Oh yes, Alfred loved science _much_ more than he had previously thought.

Matthew explained that Ludwig was a better mechanic than he was, so after Alfred learned the basics, they would both take lessons from him. Something sad flickered across his gaze when he explained that things have changed a lot during the time he was gone. Ludwig seemed to catch the look and immediately engaged Matthew in talk about the fin that was lagging earlier this morning, pointing to a bit of tarnishing on the metal where the rust had been.

Alfred was perfectly content to continue examining the machinery and trying to piece together in his head how it was all supposed to work. It all seemed to be so coordinated that if one thing went wrong, everything would fall apart. Then Alfred tried to stop thinking about that, seeing as he was rather high up in the air and an airship crash was bad enough to witness; he did not want to imagine being a part of one.

The longer he stood in the steam-filled room, the hotter he seemed to become. He wondered how on Earth his companions seemed so at ease. Ludwig was not wearing a vest or a long-sleeved shirt, but he still wore the long black gloves. And Matthew did not seem to be sweating at all. They were still engrossed in their talk, and Alfred did not want to disturb them. So he dismissed them as being used to the heat, and he pulled his vest off, followed by his gloves as he went to examine a pulley that first sent a rope flying endlessly through a little hole in the ceiling.

"Al!" Matthew shouted over the symphony of clicks and whirs.

"Huh?" Alfred pulled back from the pulley with concern.

Matthew walked over quickly and pointed to the gloves in his brother's hand. "You need to put those back on. I know it's hot, but just take your vest off and roll your sleeves up," he paused for a moment, seeming to appraise Alfred, who felt as if he was slowly dying of heat. "If it bothers you that much, roll your pants up too."

Alfred gave him an exasperated look and asked, "What's the deal with the gloves? I'm not a kid, Mattie, it's not like I'm going to hurt myself."

Before Matthew could retort, Ludwig stepped into the conversation.

"Everybody wears the gloves. In case the ship crashes, they'll help you hold on."

"Hold on?"

Ludwig nodded, and explained, "They're magnetic. And the ship is magnetic too, if you flip a switch."

"Wait," Alfred furrowed his eyebrows, "How does that work?"

Ludwig turned to Matthew expectantly.

Matthew looked caught in the spotlight. "It's uh... Well, if you send a weak electric charge through the railing, it will be magnetic until you flip the switch again."

Alfred looked steadily more interested.

Ludwig and Matthew soon learned that when Alfred took interest in something, he really put his whole heart into it. He was a sponge eager to soak up absolutely anything his mentors were willing to share about mechanics. They explained simple machines, then how they collaborate together to make complex ones. What they could do, what they could not do. They explained how the entire ship worked, one gear at a time.

It seemed like no time had passed at all by the time Gilbert came down to retrieve Ludwig.

"Yo! Luddy!" he said with unnecessary volume.

"Ja?" Ludwig asked with a sigh.

"It's time for our meeting!"

"Oh," he turned to the brothers, "Sorry, I have to go. But you should take a break anyway."

He stood up hurriedly to follow his brother down the hall again, but just before he left, he paused in the doorway.

"Matthew?"

"Yeah?" he asked, suddenly slightly concerned.

"You need to talk to Francis."

Matthew scowled, but Ludwig left immediately.

Alfred's curiosity was further piqued. Ever since he saw Matthew and Francis together for the first time, he noticed that there seemed to be something going on between them. Out of respect for his brother, he was content to let it drop, but it seemed that everyone was in on it except him. He did not want to admit it, but he was jealous. These people seemed to know an entire side of his brother that he never even knew about. They had known him longer, had more in common, and Matthew seemed to have a permanent place in their world. A world Alfred was not even aware of.

"Talk to Francis about what?" Alfred asked in a teasing sort of tone.

Matthew grabbed a clean rag and wiped smudges of soot and oil off his face with it, ignoring Alfred's question completely.

Alfred's tone grew more teasing. "Maaattiiiiiie!"

Matthew threw the cloth at Alfred's face carelessly and then stretched.

Alfred grinned as he wiped his- far messier- face off with it as well.

"We should go and get some fresh air," Matthew said, still ignoring his brother.

Alfred decided to drop it and stretched as well.

They were just heading up the ladder to get onto the main floor of the ship when Antonio pulled the trapdoor open for them.

"Oh, hola!" Antonio said with surprise, and moved away from the mouth of the door so they could climb through.

"Going to see Lovino?" Matthew asked suggestively.

"No," he sighed, "He's in the meeting."

"Hmm? It can't be a diplomatic meeting then."

"No. And you're not going to like this."

Matthew paled. "Don't tell me they're..." he trailed off and glanced at Alfred.

Antonio shook his head quickly. "Oh no! No, nothing like that! Gilbert just thinks he would be better off with Arthur."

"With Arthur? What? Why?"

Antonio kicked the trapdoor shut before he replied slowly, "Well, Arthur doesn't have a proper crew right now... Kiku swapped to see if he could smooth things over with Wang and Ivan, so he has been down a mechanic since then."

Matthew looked confused. "Wait, when did that happen? Actually, if Kiku is gone, then who's Arthur's crew now?"

"Just Herakles and," he seemed to refrain from chuckling, "Peter."

Matthew looked at him blankly for a second and then started laughing as well. "_Peter_? Goodness, no wonder he needs somebody else there."

Alfred stood there awkwardly, just taking the conversation in. He wondered who Arthur was and who Peter was. But most of all, he wondered what concerned Matthew enough to make him turn so pale so quickly.

Once Matthew was done laughing, he seemed to notice Alfred again. "Oh, sorry Al. It's just that... Peter really drives Arthur nuts."

"Bonjour mes amis!" an overly flamboyant voice called.

Antonio chuckled again and muttered, "Speaking of driving people nuts..."

Francis sauntered over to them and put his hand on Antonio's shoulder. "Antonio, mon cher, mon _plus_ cher, la lumière de ma vie-"

Antonio shot him a half-amused look. "You're not exactly helping your cause, amigo."

Francis put a hand over his heart and pretended to be hurt. "Mon cher, we all know you are much to enamored with your dear Lovino to ever spare a thought for moi!"

Matthew did not notice his brother's look of confusion, since he was glaring adamantly at Francis. Antonio hit him upside the head matter-of-factly.

"I just need to speak to Mathieu and Alfred," Francis said, once his drama fit was over.

When Matthew looked suspicious, Francis waved him off nonchalantly and gestured toward the nearest door.

The three sat down at a circular table in a metal room, Antonio having left to go join the meeting.

Francis suddenly appeared more serious than Alfred had seen him so far. Without addressing Alfred, Francis said, "Mathieu, you know what they are going to be worried about."

Matthew's eyes gained a dangerous sort of steel that Alfred had never seen before. "I said I'd vouch for him."

"We both know that won't be enough for Gilbert."

"Well it will have to be."

"I know you're worried for him, but if he goes with Arthur, at least until we can work something out with Gilbert, we won't have to worry about the Government."

"I don't trust him," Matthew stated, crossing his arms defiantly.

"You don't trust anyone, mon cher."

"For good reason!"

"I didn't say it wasn't. But," Francis gaze softened and he leaned over the table, "I'll figure something out, if you will just trust _me_."

"We've been through this. It isn't happening."

Francis withdrew and became business-like once again. "Fine, then I'll reason with Alfred."

"He doesn't know anything that's going on!"

Ignoring him, Francis turned to Alfred. "I'm afraid that as your brother is being unreasonable, you have to decide for yourself."

Before Alfred could respond, Matthew stood up angrily. "He doesn't understand the danger he's in right _now_."

Francis sighed and turned back to Matthew. "Okay then, look at it this way, the sooner he switches locations, the sooner he will be. Furthermore, Gilbert will be easier to reason with if he isn't here. Everyone has just been under a lot of stress, between Ivan and the Government. Arthur would be able to keep him safest. The Government has always been more partial to mermaids anyway."

Matthew sat back in his seat with his arms crossed. Alfred could see the imaginary gears turning in his head. He desperately wanted to demand an explanation. Alfred was becoming more and more tired of always being talked about as if he was not there. And he was tired of Matthew treating him as if he was a child. No one had really spoken directly _to_ him since he got here. No one told him anything that was going on. Everyone knew everything except him. What was Matthew hiding?

"Francis-"

"Say my name correctly," Francis interrupted.

"Hey!" Alfred cut him off, "What on Earth is going on?!"

Matthew and Francis looked at each other.

"Good question. What's going on, Mathieu?"

"Oh, I'll tell you what's going on. Alfred is going with Arthur while we smooth things over with the Government. As we are doing that, you are going to do _everything_ in your power to convince Gilbert to let him back on this ship. And while on the subject of Gilbert, I'd like to remind you that we are _friends_."

Francis smirked. "Yes, I'm aware of that fact and I think I made all of the previous clear."

The wind seemed to disappear from Matthew's sails. Then he raised an eyebrow. "You were going to try to keep Alfred on the ship?"

"Non, cher. I am trying to keep him safe. That means off the ship now, and back on the ship, at your side, later," he stood up and retucked his shirt into his pants. "And now, if you will kindly excuse me, I will check with Antonio on Arthur's status."

Francis was in the doorway before Matthew found the words to reply. "You realize that it won't change anything between us, right?"

Francis stopped abruptly, then turned slowly. Sadness and regret clouded his eyes. "I know Mathieu. But, I feel no differently for you. So I'm going to do everything and anything to protect those you do hold dear." Having said that, he smiled sadly, nodded to Alfred, and then left.

Alfred watched the exchange silently. Who exactly _was_ that guy?

Matthew turned to his brother with a somewhat forced smile on his face. "So, do you still want to know about Arthur?"

"Actually," Alfred began coolly, "I'd like to hear about Francis."

Matthew faltered. "He... We..." he sighed, and then continued, "We used to be very close. And then he went off and did something stupid that ruined everything I thought I knew about him."

"Oh..." Alfred cleared his throat nervously, realizing that he was prodding at a sensitive spot. "Yeah Mattie, I'd love to hear about Arthur."

Matthew smiled at him appreciatively. "Arthur doesn't have an airship like this, he has an actual ship. And he doesn't seem to have a mechanic right now, so if you went with him, you'd really be helping him out. You really seem to have a knack for it, and ships aren't as complicated as airships. You should be fine."

"What if I want to stay here though?"

Matthew's smile turned pained. "I want you to stay here too. But Gilbert doesn't want anyone on this ship that won't swear allegiance to him... Me vouching for you isn't enough because I haven't pledged myself to him, and he's grudgingly allowing me here at all. I'm only here because Francis, Ludwig, _and_ Antonio vouched for me."

Alfred's eyebrows furrowed. "That doesn't seem very fair."

"It isn't. But this is his ship, so what he says goes until Francis gets another one. But airships aren't exactly easy to come by, so that is going to be awhile."

"I thought this was Ludwig's ship."

Matthew ruffled his hair up out of habit. "Technically, no, it's Gilbert's ship because he is captain. But most people have the opinion that ships actually belong to the mechanics, seeing as the mechanics run them."

"So, that's what Feliciano meant?"

"Oh, and... Remember last night when I told you that you could be relocated after a week if you wanted to?"

Alfred paused as he remembered. "Yeah, why?"

Matthew looked down at his hands sheepishly. "I thought the Government might understand that the things I do have nothing to do with you, but as it turns out, if either of us step foot down there again, they are going to kill us on sight. And they think that all Aviators are in cahoots, so our relations with the Government aren't so great at the moment."

"Is that why you need to smooth things over?" Alfred asked with concern in his voice.

Matthew nodded and then stood up. "We really need to find Antonio."

…

Francis shut the door to the make-shift meeting room behind him, and sighed. He was still not ready to accept that he had messed up beyond repair, so he had resignated himself to taking things slowly and giving Matthew his time.

He sighed softly into the chilly air and took a moment to appreciate his surroundings. For him, there was no place to be but the open sky. He smiled to himself as he looked over the railing at the moving fins, sweeping lazily through the clouds. He missed his own airship, of course, but it was not the airship that made somewhere home for him. Home was the sky itself. Every Aviator understood that. And every Aviator was perfectly willing to allow others on their ship, as long as the person wanted to go home to the sky. Everybody seemed to understand that except Gilbert. Francis knew he was safe- he was one of Gilbert's best friends after all- but he worried for Matthew and Alfred. Both he and Antonio had to vouch for Matthew to convince Gilbert to let him back up. Even though Francis offered to vouch for Alfred, it was not enough for Gilbert.

He took a deep breath and sighed again. His hand strayed absently to the light blue ribbon that tied his hair, as his hand so often did when thoughts of his _cher Mathieu _crossed his mind. Then he shook his golden-blonde hair out, straightened his vest, and headed up the nearest ladder to get to the bridge* of the ship.

He climbed the ladder and went to the room that Matthew and Alfred had passed through earlier that morning. Instead of climbing up the ladder, he went to the back where a table surrounded by three chairs and covered with maps sat, and his friend Antonio was talking urgently into a radio.

"Recognition code: Beta. Sangría y tomates. Services required: two, four, six, seven, nine, ten."

"_Recognized and considered... Well, someone's been, like, really busy._"

Antonio grinned and chuckled. "You've no idea. Head's up for landing once we locate the mermaids."

"_Granted. Prepared at any time._"

Antonio hung the receiver to the radio up and acknowledged his friend by kicking the chair across the table out.

Francis nodded and sat in it. "Any luck locating Arthur?"

"Limited, sadly," Antonio said with a sigh, ruffling his already windswept hair in frustration.

Francis chuckled. "Well, on the bright side, I suppose the Government couldn't possible track him down."

"I suppose so," Antonio replied. He pulled maps, a compass, and a ruler back toward him.

"So, how is this going to work? It's not like we can get Kiku to smooth things over for us again."

"Ludwig and Feliciano," Antonio said, still examining the map.

"And what's going to become of Alfred?"

Antonio offered Francis a fleeting sympathetic look. "It depends. Ludwig said he is a fine mechanic, so I think Arthur could make the most use of him. Especially if he can cook anything like Matt. It also depends on whether he would be willing to swear allegiance to either you or Gilbert."

Francis sighed and leaned back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling. "It isn't him that's the problem. Regrettably, it is Mathieu that won't allow him to promise."

"Looks like he will have to let it go if he wants his brother to stay where he is."

Francis shook his head and looked back at Antonio. "Non. He knows how these things work. He wants the kid to remain his brother and not get caught up in this fight."

Antonio rested his elbows on the table, and his chin on his hands. "Mmm. Because it is definitely possible for him to go back."

Francis shot him a look. "Oh, you know what he is trying to do. He went through it too, you know. We all did. We aren't people anymore, we are extensions of what we are trying to achieve. And Mathieu doesn't want his little brother to become a tool to achieve our means."

Antonio sighed and shook his head, his curly brown hair falling over his green eyes. "We both know that isn't possible."

Francis leaned forward and said very seriously, "Do you want to be the one to tell Mathieu that his brother is going to end up as a tool to Gilbert, Ivan, or The Cause in general? Because I sure don't."

Antonio looked at him levelly. "No one does. That's why the kid is going with Arthur."

Matthew and Alfred walked in just as Antonio finished speaking.

"Oh, Francis... I thought you'd be in the meeting..."

Francis immediately put his smooth demeanor back up and said, "Oh, mais mon cher, I've already given them my opinion on the matter."

Matthew rolled his eyes and addressed Antonio instead. "Any luck on finding Arthur?"

Antonio shook his head. "None at all. He isn't answering his radio, but Feliks said that it needs to be fixed and sometimes it doesn't work if the wind is blowing," he gestured to the array of equipment in front of him, "I radioed Elizabetha to figure out his last location and I've been using the wind and ocean patterns to guess where he is, so we won't miss him when he goes into Feliks' port."

Francis leaned forward slightly with an amused expression and asked, "Are you forgetting that Arthur has lateen** sails now?"

Antonio looked at Francis blankly for a second then glanced back down at his maps. "Mierda."

"Why don't you just land now and stay down until Arthur goes in?" Matthew chimed in.

"That'd probably be easiest," Antonio said, now glancing at a compass.

Francis stood up. "I'll get Ludwig."

Once he was gone, Matthew sat in his seat and pulled the last chair out for Alfred.

"I haven't gotten the chance to ask properly yet. How've you been Tony?" Matthew asked with a friendly smile.

Antonio grinned back. "Finally got somewhere with Lovi."

Matthew's smile widened and he laughed. "I noticed."

Antonio gave Matthew an amused look and he retorted, "And I see that Francis has gotten nowhere with you."

"Nor will he ever," Matthew snorted.

"Honestly, I think the entire rejection experience has been wonderful for querido Francis."

Matthew chuckled. "I agree entirely."

"And how have you been?"

Matthew glanced out of the rounded glass on the far wall. The glass gave view to the sky ahead and allowed sunshine to stream unhindered into the room. A smile crossed his face as he looked at the tops of the white puffy clouds. They were so high up now that the clouds covered the horizon line and there was nothing but the endless blue expanse around them, and nothing but a field of clouds below them.

Matthew turned back to Antonio. "I've been great. But it's good to be home."

Home. Alfred wondered if this is what Matthew always thought about when he stared absently out of windows or stared longingly at the sky. Alfred could not say that he blamed his brother. But his feeling of not belonging here was steadily increasing. No one really seemed to want him here, besides Matthew. They were going to dump him off with some guy that he had never even met, without giving him a choice in the matter. The only thing that made him feel better about it was Matthew's resistance to the idea.

Francis came back in with Ludwig.

"We're going straight to Feliks?" Ludwig asked promptly.

Antonio nodded, and Ludwig went to a large steering wheel with a series of levers beside it. He pulled one of the levers and swung the wheel around.

It may have been Alfred's imagination, but a faint series of clicks seemed to emanate from many floors below.

Matthew chuckled when he saw Alfred's sudden interest in the ground.

"Remember all those pulleys on the walls?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah," Alfred replied, now glancing at the levers by the wheel.

"They control the rotation of the gears attached to the fins. The clicking is from the lever starting the pulleys."

Alfred's blue eyes lit up. "That is _so_ cool."

Antonio looked amused. "You know, I think he and Feliks will get along perfectly."

When Matthew shot him a look, Antonio clarified, "They're interested in the same things."

Matthew raised an eyebrow in suspicion, as if he was insinuating something else. But he dismissed it and turned back to Alfred. "Okay. So Feliks is a merchant of sorts who lives on an island. We are going down there to pick a few things up, and hopefully we will bump into Arthur while we're there."

Alfred nodded, glad to finally be spoken directly to.

"And I'm sorry to throw you into it, but you'll end up as his mechanic for the time being."

"I don't think I'm good enough for that..."

Matthew waved his insecurity off. "Don't worry about it. Seaships are much easier to deal with than Airships. And you seem to have a talent for it, you'll pick it up in no time.

Alfred smiled modestly but remained unconvinced.

"It'll be about fifteen minutes," Ludwig called from across the room.

"Really?" Matthew asked no one in particular.

Antonio nodded. "We've pretty much just been circling around the area all morning trying to find Arthur."

Matthew stood up again. "We'd better get you ready for the landing then."

Something about that statement made Alfred think he was not going to enjoy it.

Matthew led Alfred back to the room that he had slept in and instructed Alfred to put the soles back on the boots. He practiced walking around in the boots for a few minutes and eventually got the hang of it, even if it did not feel quite right. He realized, much to his content, that he Aviator's clothes no longer felt so alien on him, and he found that he had grown rather attached to them. He did not think that the shirt scratched too much, that the gloves constricted his movement, or that the top of the boots felt weird around his knees. He understood now what Matthew meant by 'after awhile you won't feel right without them'.

It took a moment for Alfred to register that the ship was tilting forward slightly. But Alfred was proud to say that he noticed before Matthew did.

"Are we landing now?" Alfred asked his brother, who was currently adjusting his goggle hat in the reflection of a particularly shiny square of the wall.

"Huh?" Then he stopped adjusting and was silent a moment. "Oh, I guess we are... You may want to sit down."

Alfred shook his head and replied, "I'll have to get used to it eventually. And didn't you say that the pressure gauge on the boots would help?"

Matthew looked doubtful but he relented anyway. "At least take your glasses off."

When the ship finally landed, Alfred found that it was not nearly as bad as he thought it was going to be. The boots really seemed to help him keep his balance as the ship bounced a few times before gliding on the ground. Alfred could not resist but to go outside and cling to the railing to watch scenery fly by at high speeds. Entire forests and villages seemed to rush by as they slowed. People they sped past waved, and some children jumped up and down enthusiastically when Alfred waved back.

Matthew joined him at the railing, looking concerned at first, but then shouting "_Freedom!_" as loud as he could. They were going to fast to hear properly, but Alfred swore he heard entire villages calling "_Freedom!_" with just as much enthusiasm back at them. Alfred laughed and joined in the shouting and Matthew joined in waving.

The entire place was either fields or small villages, as far as Alfred could see. Some people working in the fields dropped their tools and came to run beside the slowing airship as far as they could. He could not figure out why, but when he saw their wild grins, he could not help but grin himself.

When they finally stopped, both looked like their hair had been through a hurricane. Which was quite impressive, considering most of Matthew's hair was tucked neatly under his hat. The goggles seemed to be a separate part of the hat, and the goggle part was now dangling around the front of Matthew's neck. They looked so cool, Alfred wanted a pair even more.

A short man with green eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair stood before them, looking amused and shaking his head at the brothers' antics.

Matthew grinned down at him and waved.

The man looked up at Matthew, as if not believing his eyes.

Matthew grinned wider and grabbed the railing, swinging his legs over gracefully, and landing on his feet- about twenty feet below- effortlessly. Alfred watched in horror until he saw that his brother was perfectly fine, and then he laughed as he saw the two men below run toward each other for a hug, as if they were in some sort of cheesy romance movie.

The man was not dressed as an Aviator. He wore forest-green attire. Plain dark brown boots overlapped baggy green pants and a long jacket was held down by a belt around his waist. The jacket had quite a few pockets, but it was still simple compared to his own clothing. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal bare hands. The sight was almost odd after seeing everyone with gloved hands.

Alfred did not notice Feliciano behind him until he laughed.

"Oh whoops. I guess Antonio forgot to tell him that Mat's back."

When Alfred turned to look at him, he said, "I wouldn't suggest doing that." Then he pointed to the very back of the ship, past the trapdoor that led to the lower rooms. "There's a ladder over there."

"Thanks," Alfred replied with a grin and raced off to get to his brother's side.

"Oh my god, I've like, missed you so much!" the shorter man exclaimed, refusing to let go of Matthew, and jumping up and down.

"I missed you too... But if you're going to jump around like that, let go first." Matthew sounded as if he was being strangled as he said it.

Alfred laughed from the absurdity of the sight, as the rest of the crew gathered around the two hugging men.

The man finally released Matthew and turned an accusing glare to Antonio. "You didn't tell me he was back."

Antonio laughed and ruffled the hair on the back of the neck. "It's not like we have a code for 'our fellow Aviator that's been out of commission the past ten years has returned with his brother tagging along for the ride'!"

"... Brother?"

The entire crew moved aside and pointed to Alfred, who suddenly felt very awkward under the spotlight.

He offered a little self-conscious wave. "Hi... uh.. _ompf!_"

Feliks ran at him and gave him the most enthusiastic hug he had ever received in his life. He practically had to catch the man.

"Oh my gosh, like, hi! You look so much like your brother! Are you a mechanic too? Can you cook? Whose crew do you belong to? Do you think you're going to fall in love with anybody here? 'Cause that'd be, like, _so_ romantic! Is it gonna be Arthur?!"

"W-What?" Alfred managed to choke out. The fact that he should return the overly-affectionate hug did not even occur to him.

Ludwig effortlessly pulled the shorter man off him and placed him on the ground again. While Alfred gained his breath back, Matthew walked over to the man and calmly whispered something in his ear.

Alfred looked at his brother helplessly.

Matthew straightened out and explained unhelpfully, "He's excited to meet you."

"Yeah, no kidding," Alfred replied.

The people surrounding who heard his reply comment laughed. And then the man hugged them all one by one, kissing both Feliciano and Francis on both cheeks, and proceeding to talk to them enthusiastically.

"That's Feliks," Matthew said, gesturing to the hyperactive man, "He runs the entire island."

"Him?" Alfred asked, glancing at the man in question, and then back at his brother.

Matthew chuckled. "Don't let him fool you. He's a heck of a fighter."

"And very protective of this place too," Francis added, coming up behind Matthew.

"Ludwig!" Feliks shouted, practically launching himself at the man who caught him deftly.

"Hi Feliks."

Feliks released him and looked at the group of Aviators. "You guys need to like, come see me more often."

Matthew grinned at him. "You can bet on it... Hey, where's Toris?"

The smiles slipped off everybody's faces. They all looked at each other solemnly, waiting for someone else to speak first.

"He's..." Feliks started, then trailed off, as if the words were too painful to get out. He cleared his throat and looked up at Matthew with pain in his large eyes. "He's with Ivan."

Matthew looked at him in shock. "... _With_ Ivan or just..." he could not bring himself to complete the question.

Feliks shrugged helplessly and examined his boots. "I hope not..." He held his left hand up and a little gold ring rested on his ring finger. He smiled halfheartedly as he pointed to it.

"Congratulations," Matthew said softly.

"Thanks," Feliks replied so quietly, it was nearly a whisper.

Alfred was incredibly lost. _Was Toris this guy's wife or something? It sounds like a guy's name..._ _And who is Ivan?_

Everyone stood around awkwardly, not knowing what to say. They all knew this news already and they were unsure of how to comfort Feliks, or change the subject. They were spared by the arrival of Gilbert.

"Hey Feliks, we're dumpin' the new guy on ya! Arthur's gonna come and pick him up!"

Francis and Antonio elbowed him simultaneously.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

They gestured toward Feliks who still looked thoroughly upset.

"Oh what? Toris again? It's about time you- _ompf_!"

Francis, Antonio, and Ludwig elbowed him simultaneously.

As he recovered, Francis asked, "So Feliks, mon cher, it seems that we will need another pair of gloves, another goggle hat, and a new spare uniform."

Feliks sniffed once and pulled himself together, looking cheerful- though not as enthusiastic- once again.

"Great! Who's working it off?" he asked, looking around the group.

The Aviators looked at each other and a grin slowly worked itself across each member's face.

"It seems that we're deciding tonight," Antonio informed Feliks.

Feliks clapped excitedly. "The usual way?"

Feliciano and Antonio nodded enthusiastically while Ludwig smiled slightly.

"Great!" Feliks exclaimed, clapping again, "I'll spread the word!"

Alfred turned to look at Matthew. He did not know what 'working it off' implied, but he was very curious about how the decision was made. "How do you decide?"

Matthew chuckled and replied, "Soccer."

Feliciano tugged on Ludwig's arm. "Andiamo! Let's go practice!"

Ludwig allowed himself to be dragged away by the smaller man.

Antonio turned to Lovino, "Want to join them?"

Lovino shrugged, which just made Antonio grin; and they ended up following them as well.

Gilbert said he was going to go check some stuff out at the shops and he disappeared as well.

Feliks, Matthew, and Francis were deep in conversation, catching up and reminiscing, so Alfred looked around. They seemed to be in front of some sort of medieval shopping center. People with all sorts of stalls were calling out to attract customers. Everything from fruit, to jewelry, to books were being sold. There was a long road going through the center of the town, and if he gazed down the road far enough, he could see where the village blended into smooth country side. He recalled seeing people working in fields on the way in. Alfred found himself wondering if they had electricity. And why- if they did- they would decide to live like this. The ocean was far off to his right, and he could see the sandy beach from where he stood. A little thrill went through him, he had never seen the ocean before.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Matthew say his name.

"Oh I haven't properly introduced you guys yet! Alfred, this is Feliks Łukasiewicz, Feliks, this is my brother Alfred Jones."

Alfred was relieved when Feliks offered his hand for a handshake instead of launching himself at him again.

"It's great to like, finally meet you!" Feliks said sincerely, shaking his one hand in both his own.

"Great to meet you too," Alfred said with a grin. Honestly, this guy had made him feel more welcome in five minutes than the _Bismarck _crew managed to make him feel in almost a whole day.

"See, Antonio was right about them getting along," Francis teased.

"Why wouldn't we get along? He's Mattie's brother!"

Somehow Feliks' use of his special pet name for his brother did not bother him much. Obviously he was very affectionate with everybody... Somehow he did not want to see he and Toris together.

"You don't even know how much I missed you," Matthew said, smiling at Feliks fondly.

Feliks grinned and launched himself at Matthew again. "We need to like, hug a _ton_ to make up for lost time."

Matthew laughed and spun the smaller man around. "Absolutely."

Alfred chuckled at the sight, and found himself once again marveling at his brother's previously unknown strength. It took him a moment to notice Francis watching the reunion bitterly.

"I'm going back to the ship, I'm supposed to be watching it," Francis declared. And without a parting glance, he headed back to the ladder.

Alfred was not sure whether he should stop him or not, so he just let him go.

Matthew placed Feliks back on the ground and examined his outfit more closely. "Just get back from rounds?"

"Yeah! How'd you tell?"

Matthew gestured to the dark brown boots and then the jacket.

Feliks looked down as well, as if having forgotten about them. "Oh yeah! Production is going great, the weather has been awesome this year."

"That's great to... Really Feliks?"

Feliks was sitting on the sandy grass and pulling his boots off on the spot. Once his boots were off, his socks followed. He stood back up and immediately unbuckled his belt to take his jacket off. Alfred was grateful that he was wearing a beige t-shirt underneath.

"Like, of course!" Feliks said, bending down to roll his pants up.

Matthew grinned, and to Alfred's astonishment, actually followed suit. He stripped his vest off, then his boots and socks. He rolled his pants up, and Alfred noticed that there was actually an extra clip on the inside of the pants that attached to a loop on the outside to keep the rolled pants bottoms up. He discarded his goggle hat as well.

"Come on, Al! Let's go to the beach!" Matthew exclaimed. "Just toss your stuff next to ours, no one here steals."

It was not so much thieves that Alfred was worried about. Alfred realized for the first time that no one seemed to have any sort of qualm removing clothing in front of other people. Sure, it was not as if they were entirely stripping, but he grew up in a much more modest society. People turned around if someone else had to so much as tie a shoelace. He was horrified enough when his brother stripped on the lawn last night, much less witnessing someone who was practically a stranger do it.

"Oh," Matthew turned to Feliks and said, "He's still new, turn around."

Feliks nodded, shot Alfred a teasing grin, and then turned around. Alfred almost felt as if he was being mocked, but he ignored it and looked around quickly to make sure no one was paying attention before he took his own boots and vest off.

"Jeez Al," Matthew called, with his back still turned, "How did you ever manage when you were with girls?"

Alfred reddened slightly. "That's different and you know it!" He tossed his discarded clothes onto the pile and rolled his pants up. "There, I'm done."

"Great!" Feliks exclaimed, and then started running for the beach. "Bet I can beat you guys!" he called back.

Matthew started running after him. "I don't think so!"

Alfred ran after the two, glad for the chance to stretch his legs properly. He breathed the ocean air in, and the desire to see the aqua expanse fueled him to go even faster. He did not even notice when he passed both his brother and then Feliks.

He ran until he stood on the top of a small embankment. Down below was soft-looking white sand. He slid down and immediately regretted it because that sand was _hot._ He promptly ran into the oncoming water, and then ran back out to the safety of the wet sand. Jeez, scorching sand or freezing water, no happy medium.

"I don't like the beach, Mattie!" he called to his quickly approaching brother.

The familiar glint of mischief appeared on Matthew's face and Alfred made a run for it. Sadly for him, the desire to torment his brother made Matthew faster, and he easily caught up. He grabbed Alfred around the waist, slung him over his shoulder and marched steadfastly into the water.

"No! No, no, no! Put me down!" Alfred demanded, thrashing around as best he could.

"Okay," Matthew said with false cheeriness.

Then he dropped Alfred into the icy waves.

Alfred popped back up, gasping from the cold.

"Y-you are not as funny as you think you are."

Matthew laughed and then gasped as well when Feliks splashed him from behind.

They played in the ocean for awhile, until the sun was far past its high point. Then they all retreated, shivering but happy from the ocean. Feliks led them to a blanket spread out on the sand, and they all laid down, allowing the sun to dry them off.

"Hey, Feliks, what time is it?" Matthew asked.

"Hmm..." Feliks squinted up at the sun, "I'd say it's about four..."

"What's for supper?" Alfred asked, realizing that he never ate lunch.

"He really likes hamburgers," Matthew informed the blonde.

"Hamburgers sound like, totally awesome! We can have a barbeque after soccer!"

"That sounds amazing! Even though I don't really like soccer..."

"Oh relax Al, you're gonna love it."

Alfred did not doubt it. This island itself was amazing. He loved the ocean, even though it was cold. It was beautiful and endless, just like the sky. He had never seen the horizon before, and he actually spent a few minutes trying to see where exactly the sky and the sea melded into one, but he could not make it out. He rolled over onto his stomach to look over Matthew out at the sea again. A large black object was moving slowly toward a spot far up the shore.

"Hey, what's that?" Alfred asked.

Matthew and Feliks turned to look.

Matthew shrugged and laid back down. "Just a ship coming into port."

Feliks burst out laughing. "Wow man, you're so out of the loop. That's the _Lusitania II_."

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"It's Arthur!"

"Arthur?!" Matthew exclaimed, jumping up and squinting at the ship in the distance, as if he could see the man from there.

"Arthur?" Alfred asked, looking at the black mass with interest.

Feliks stood up and brushed some sand off his still-damp clothes.

"Come on, Al!" Matthew shouted, already racing toward where the ship was going to anchor.

* * *

*Bridge of the ship: It's the equivalent of a cockpit. It's where the captain steers and all his navigational equipment and maps are kept.

**lateen sails: triangular sails that allow a ship to sail no matter which direction the wind is blowing

* * *

Hello again ^^

Sorry that not much happened in this chapter, but I hope the length makes up for it!

Thank you for your awesome reviews! Those who have reviewed have been awesome, and I can't thank you enough for your feedback!

Guest Reviewer: Sorry to break it to you, but there aren't any literal mermaids... Francis referring to Arthur as a mermaid will be explained next chapter... I'm sorry for misleading you T_T But thank you so much for your review! I definitely do intend to write much more, don't you worry! I haven't even begun yet, I'm still in set-up stage. If this chapter had continued as it did in my outline, then it would have gone on for another 5,000 words. But I decided I should probably just chop it in half... This came out much longer than first intended... But I suppose it's better than the other way around, eh? Thanks again for your wonderful feedback, and thanks for continuing to read. I do hope you end up seeing this...


	4. The World He Never Knew

Alfred did not know what to make of Arthur.

He did not know what to make of Matthew and Feliks' stamina as they ran nearly a mile to reach the ship as fast as they can, either. But Alfred especially did not know what to make of Arthur.

He wore brown knee-high boots that appeared to be made out of thick fabric. They were laced up on the side, and were netted on the inside part of the leg. The bottoms of his tan pants were tucked into his boots and they clung tightly to his lithe figure. His white shirt was looser than his pants, and went almost down to his knees, and was held down at his waist by a simple belt. A short sword hung at his side and a pistol sat on his hip. He had the thickest eyebrows Alfred had ever seen.

When he came off of his ship, he looked out at the ocean with a fond smile, and then turned to the shore with a sigh. He was utterly shocked to have Matthew come running at him, shouting his name; and did not immediately return the hug that the taller man gave him. He was even more thrown off by Feliks doing the same thing, but with more vigor.

He finally returned the hugs of the two enthusiastic men stiffly, and patted their backs awkwardly.

Alfred did not know what his deal was. If _he_ had two friends running at him like that, one of which he had not seen for ten years, he would be ecstatic. But this man almost seemed to hold them at arm's length somehow. And not just in a physical way... Alfred could not exactly put his finger on it.

"Matthew!" Arthur said, once Matthew released him.

"Hey Arthur," Matthew said with a huge grin.

"I thought you... Where... What are you doing here?" he finally asked, still looking at Matthew as if he was a ghost.

"You're never going to believe this story... But first, I want you to meet my brother."

Feliks grabbed Alfred's wrist and pulled him to Arthur so he was hardly a foot away from the shorter man. He stumbled, but caught himself before he fell on the wide-eyed person before him. Feliks chuckled.

"Uhh... Hi," Alfred offered awkwardly.

"Um hello," Arthur replied, just as awkwardly.

"Arthur, this is my brother, Alfred Jones. Al, this is Arthur Kirkland."

Still feeling as if he was a little too close for comfort, Alfred offered his hand for a handshake. Arthur seemed to lose some of his awkwardness and he shook the offered hand delicately. It was a firm handshake, even if Alfred felt as if his hand was being treated as some sort of fragile flower.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said.

"You too," Alfred said with a lopsided smile.

Feliks grinned and pushed Arthur, making him land practically on Alfred. "Oh, come on! He's _Mattie's_ brother! Give him a real greeting!"

A faint pink tinge appeared of Arthur's cheeks as he stepped away and dropped Alfred's hand.

"I believe I did," he replied coolly.

Matthew laughed and hugged Arthur again.

"I missed you and your awkwardness so much!"

Arthur rolled his eyes but returned the hug properly.

"You, Matthew, I missed. The awkwardness, I could do without."

Ludwig came up behind the group with Feliciano trailing not far behind. Both seemed to have discarded their boots, and both had their pants rolled up. Well, Ludwig did; Feliciano was parading around in his boxers.

"Arthur!" Feliciano shouted, hugging the shorter man, who tried to back away.

Arthur struggled to make the shorter man release him. "Feliciano! For goodness sakes, put some clothes on!"

"Everything important is covered! Ludwig doesn't mind!"

"_Obviously_ Ludwig doesn't mind, but I do!"

Feliciano finally let him go and Ludwig tapped Matthew's shoulder.

"Hmm?"

Ludwig muttered something in Matthew's ear. Alfred caught the words 'leaving, urgent, and Government'.

Matthew's face fell and he turned to his brother. "Al, apparently something has come up and we need to leave right now. I'm really sorry, but I need to go with them. Don't worry he'll take good care of you." He motioned toward Arthur as he spoke.

"What?!" Arthur exclaimed, "No one told me about this!"

Ignoring him, Matthew continued, "I'll contact his ship as soon as I can, but don't contact me first, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."

He hugged Alfred close, ruffled his hair, and then ran off toward the airship again.

"Arthur, I'm sorry to just leave him here with you, but he is a fine mechanic and a fast learner. Matthew thinks that with training he would make a decent fighter too," he turned to Feliciano quickly, "We need to go."

The two men ran off after Matthew.

Arthur looked after them with a frustrated expression and then turned to Alfred. "What is going on?"

Surprised, but pleased to have someone finally address him directly, he just shrugged.

"Francis, like, crashed his ship in Mattie's yard and then Gilbert came to rescue them and Mattie went along too!"

Arthur looked at Feliks dumbly. "How on Earth did that damn frog manage to crash his ship this time?"

Feliks shrugged and Alfred asked, "This time?"

"The last time he crashed his ship, he happened to crash _into_ mine. I'd hope that he gained some piloting skills, but apparently I was mistaken."

Alfred could not help but laugh at the way Arthur spoke.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Dude, what are you? Three hundred?"

"I beg your pardon?" Arthur replied indignantly.

Feliks clapped him on the shoulder. "I keep telling you to loosen up man." Then his face suddenly fell. "Oh that means no football tonight!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Oh the tragedy."

Feliks sighed dramatically, then became slightly more business-like. "So, what did you like, come here for?"

"My compass needs calibrating, a new barometer and a new radio..." Arthur sighed before continuing, "Peter thought he could fix the other one..."

Feliks nodded knowingly. "Great. I was going to go back to town to show Al around anyway. Where _is _Peter?"

"Staying on deck with Heracles," he said, gesturing toward the massive ship behind him.

Alfred took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the ship before him. It was not as big as the airship, but it was still impressive nonetheless. It looked like a pirate ship right out of a movie. There was a long piece of wood that protruded from the front of the ship, and three white triangular sails attached to it. Two long masts stood proudly on the deck, each with a rectangular sail and a triangular sail on top. A huge triangular sail situated itself between the two masts. All the sails fluttered contentedly in the late afternoon wind. Alfred could not help but to look up in awe. Somehow, it seemed more regal than the airship; and, Alfred thought, it was befitting for the man in front of him. Yes, regal was a good word to describe them both.

Feliks started making his way back to the main part of the island, with Alfred and Arthur following close behind.

"So," Arthur said, falling into step beside Alfred, "You come from America?"

Alfred nodded, strangely pleased that Arthur wanted to have a conversation with him.

"And you just came last night?"

"Well, I've only been on this island for a few hours. But I spent almost all day on Ludwig's ship."

Arthur nodded. "You seem to be taking it well."

"Huh? Taking what well?"

"Everything, really," he gestured to the island at large. "Most people who are suddenly wrenched from their normal lives are scared and just want to go back. They don't want to believe that their government might have done them wrong."

Alfred shrugged. "Maybe it's easier for me because I have Mattie. And everyone on the ship is really nice, even if they are a bit weird..."

The little town was drawing closer.

"Who decided that you would be sailing with me?"

Alfred laughed self-consciously. "I don't really know actually..."

"Didn't they give you a choice?" Arthur asked, with a questioning look.

Alfred shook his head sadly.

"Oh... I'm sorry."

Alfred looked over at Arthur in surprise.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"It's just... No one has really seemed to care about what I wanted since I got here. I mean, I know that they are probably really sticking their necks out by helping me and all, but I didn't ask for any of this," Alfred explained with a sad smile.

Feliks turned to the two men behind him. "I don't want you to think I've been, like, eavesdropping or anything, but I'm sorry too Al."

Alfred smiled a little more genuinely and said, "Don't worry about it, it isn't like it's your fault. Either of your fault, actually."

Feliks stopped walking and looked thoughtful. "Hmm... Tell you what. How about you spend the day here with us, and then you decide whether you want to go with Arthur or stay here with me." He smiled brightly at Alfred.

"That sounds..." he trailed off, looking at the two sympathetic and earnest men. "That sounds great."

Feliks grinned and continued walking. "I'll totally show you all the best stuff about the island. You saw the ocean already. That's what made me want to live here in the first place."

"Do you really run the whole island?" Alfred asked interestedly.

"Yeah! Ever since I left America I lived here," he paused as if thinking. "And I knew that I didn't wanna live in the sky or at sea, so I ended up settling here. And then more and more people ended up on the island with me, and now we have entire cities here."

"Wow." Alfred looked around as they stepped back onto the road. "You mean that _everyone_ here used to live in America?"

"Not everyone. Most of the adults did, but most of the kids were born here."

"That's so cool! Is it hard to run everything?"

"The place kind of runs itself. Most people here just wanted to have their own farms and live in peace. So most people just kind of help by giving supplies. At first everyone here were farmers and it was hard to get supplies. But as time went by, skilled workers showed up and now we can supply everything the resistance needs. Except metalwork... The ships themselves and anything else metal comes from either Ivan or Wang... But the metal is sent here for us to work with it."

Alfred wanted to ask who Ivan was, but he remembered that Toris was with Ivan... Whatever that meant. So he decided to avoid the subject and maybe ask Arthur later. "Arthur, did you come from America?"

Arthur shook his head. "No, I was born on the sea." As he said it, he gave another fond look at the water behind them. It was the same look Matthew had on his face when he was looking at the sky that morning. And it was the same look Feliks had on his face as he looked at the bustling market.

Feliks led them a small ways down the main road. It was just a simple brick road that was pleasantly warm on Alfred's bare feet. Everything seemed to be covered in a fine layer of sand and little rocks scattered about sent brief shots of pain through him, but it was easy enough to ignore. Feliks seemed completely used to it and pointed out different shops. He greeted nearly every single person that walked by, and little kids playing in the streets ran over to hug him when they saw him approaching. It had that small down feel, where everyone knew everybody else. But everyone was friendlier.

A few people that passed by greeted Arthur as well, and some stopped to shake Alfred's hand and welcome him to the island.

As Feliks led them further down the road, the stalls turned into little shops. The shops were lined up down the street and each one had a huge window in the front to attract potential customers.

Feliks brought them to the front of a slightly shabby shop and opened the door for his companions. A merry little bell chimed to announce their arrival. The first thing Alfred noticed when he walked in was that every single wall was covered in clocks of all shapes and sizes. Circles, squares, rectangles, cuckoo clocks, grandfather clocks, watches, pocket watches, and little trinkets with clocks attached lined the walls, dangled from the ceiling, and filled the shells. The vast majority of the clocks took the shape of trinkets, and tables displaying them were placed randomly throughout the shop. A soft symphony of ticks filled the air, all perfectly in unison.

An old man hunched over a workbench sat in a corner and he looked up when the group walked in.

"I'll be with you in just a moment," he called over.

"You can like, take your time. We aren't in a hurry," Feliks assured him, then went over to the nearest table to examine a little frog that was sitting on a clock the size of an orange.

The man nodded absentmindedly and continued tinkering with whatever he was working on.

Alfred busied himself admiring a particularly ornate grandfather clock and Arthur was inspecting a golden pocket watch.

After a minute the man stood up, adjusted his glasses, and ambled over to the counter.

"How can I help y- Oh Arthur!" he seemed to notice the man for the first time. "Wonderful to see you again! How long are you in town?"

Arthur smiled and went over to shake the man's hand. "Nice to see you again as well. I'm not sure actually. I can imagine I will at least spend the night, and maybe tomorrow."

"Excellent, stop by at some point eh? We can catch up over tea."

Arthur nodded. "That sounds lovely."

The man looked at Alfred and his eyes brightened. "Oh an Aviator? Haven't seen you here before, how long you been hanging around?"

Alfred walked up to the counter as well and shook the man's hand. "Only a few hours actually." He briefly wondered why the man would think he was an aviator, but then remembered that the clothes he was wearing would be rather obvious.

Feliks grinned and said, "That's Mattie's brother."

"Really?" the man looked at Alfred again, as if scrutinizing him. "Oh goodness, you look exactly like him, I can't believe I didn't see it sooner!" he shook Alfred's hand in both of his and smiled at him warmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, a pleasure."

"Nice to meet you too," Alfred said, returning the smile. He was growing used to people taking more interest in him when they realized whose brother he was. How is it that everyone seemed to know Matthew?

"Well, what can I get you fine gents?" he asked the group once he released Alfred's hand.

"My nautical compass needs calibrating and I need a new barometer," Arthur answered.

The man nodded. "Do you have them with you or would you like me to head to your ship?"

"If you wouldn't mind, then coming to my ship would be easiest. How about around seven? We can have our tea then."

"Splendid," then he turned to Alfred again, "Your airship took off awhile ago, are you staying?"

Alfred nodded sheepishly.

"He might be staying here for like, ever!" Feliks said happily.

"Oh really?" the man said with interest. "Well, everyone is always welcome here."

"He's a damn good mechanic," Arthur stated.

Alfred looked at him with surprise.

The man laughed. "Don't be so modest, boy! Mechanics always have a way with clocks. Tell you what, if you stay, you can come work for me until you get yourself properly situated. And if you like it, you can help me run my shop. Whadda ya say?"

Alfred was thrown off by the sudden offer, but incredibly pleased all the same. "Thanks so much! I'd love to work here, everything looks so..." he trailed off, unable to find a word to describe the array of objects surrounding him, so he just gestured vaguely at it all.

The man laughed again, "I know exactly what you mean," he turned back to Arthur, "I'll see you at seven. Sorry I can't chat now, I'm working on something. Lovely to see you again Arthur. Always a pleasure to see you, Feliks. And- oh goodness, I'm sorry! I never caught your name!"

"Alfred," Alfred said with a grin, "Alfred F. Jones."

"And wonderful to meet you, Alfred Jones."

The three left the shop and Feliks started leading them farther down the street.

"If you do stay, Al, you really should take him up on his offer," Feliks said.

"I think I will... Hey Arthur, where'd that comment about me being a good mechanic come from?"

"If Ludwig says someone is a 'fine mechanic', then you must be a damn good mechanic."

Alfred was starting to like Arthur more and more.

Feliks glanced back at them. "I give you guys like a month."

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Arthur asked indignantly.

"You know exactly what I mean," Feliks replied with a giggle.

Alfred gave Arthur a questioning look. "What?"

"He means... You know," Arthur replied vaguely, gesturing at nothing in particular.

"I don't get it."

Arthur and Feliks stopped walking. "You don't get it?" Arthur repeated blankly.

"No?" Alfred asked more than stated.

"... Like your brother and Francis."

"What do you mean 'like my brother and Francis'?" Alfred was becoming steadily more bewildered. "I don't know what you mean... I mean, I know they fought or something, but aren't they friends now?"

Feliks and Arthur shared a look.

"Arthur, he doesn't swing that way."

"Swing what way?" Alfred asked, getting slightly frustrated. "Would someone please tell me what's going on? No one has been telling me anything! I didn't know who Arthur was! I thought he was a mermaid! And now I'm supposed to be his mechanic! I don't know the deal with my brother and Francis, and I don't know why my government is such a big deal, I don't know why I had to leave, and I don't know why I can't just go home!" unbidden tears sprang to his eyes, "I don't know where I am, or what I'm doing here, or if I can stay here, or what my brother is doing right now! I don't even know how everyone knows him or why people are so eager to have me around once they know I'm his brother! Just... Just tell me what's happening..." the last sentence came out as a whisper.

The two men listened to Alfred's rant first in astonishment, and then with sorrow. They did not know what to say when Alfred was done, and they were even more lost when he wiped his streaming eyes.

After a moment Arthur pulled a handkerchief out of one of his pockets and handed it to Alfred, who wordlessly took it and buried his face in it. He continued crying silently, though his shoulders were shaking

They were suddenly aware that they were in the middle of a busy street when a little girl slowly walked up to Alfred, and hesitantly tugged on his shirt.

"Mister Aviator?" she asked gently.

Alfred looked down at her through red eyes. He sniffed loudly and tried to pull himself together as he bent down to talk to her. "You need something, little miss?" he asked softly.

She shook her head and held a little daisy out to him.

He looked at it for a moment. "Is that for me?"

She nodded shyly.

He took it and tucked it into his belt. "Thank you so much... I wish I had something to give you back."

She looked pleased when he tucked it into his belt. "No, it's to cheer you up!" she said happily, "And you don't need to give anything back, silly!"

Alfred smiled genuinely and wiped the remaining tears from his eyes. "That is a great way to make people happy... Is that what you do cheer people up here?"

"No," she said with a giggle.

"Oh?" Alfred asked, sounding slightly amused, "Well, how do you cheer people up here?"

She blushed slightly, and glanced around, as if to make sure no one was looking. Then she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "That's how we really do it here, but I didn't want to do that at first because you're not from here, mister Aviator," she explained shyly.

He looked at her in shock, and his hand drifted to his cheek, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks as well. Then he said, "I'm not an Aviator."

She tilted her head and looked at his outfit, "You're not?"

He shook his head and smiled. "No, I'm just Alfred."

The girl smiled back. "Well, I hope you feel better, Alfred." She gave him another quick kiss and then ran back off to meet her friends.

Alfred stood back up, and put his hand back on his cheek.

"Is everyone here so..." He gestured vaguely in the direction of the girl.

Feliks smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

Alfred looked at Feliks properly and asked, "Is that seriously how you cheer people up here?"

Feliks nodded again and laughed.

Alfred looked fondly at the little flower tucked away in his belt and then noticed he was still holding Arthur's handkerchief.

"Oh, uhh, here," Alfred said, offering it back.

Arthur waved it off. "No, you can just keep it."

"You sure?"

Arthur nodded and then turned to Feliks. "How about you take care of the rest, and I'll head back to my ship with Alfred."

Suddenly feeling as if people were deciding things for him, Alfred opened his mouth to protest, but Arthur cut him off.

"Alright Alfred, I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Any protest Alfred had died in his mouth, and he felt bad for having doubted his friends' intentions. Then he simply tucked the handkerchief into his belt beside the daisy.

Feliks waved goodbye as he continued up the street, and the other two started walking back to the ship.

"So," Arthur began, "What do you want to know first?"

Alfred thought for a second, and then asked, "Why did Francis call you a mermaid?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Because he is a complete and utter immature twat."

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Aviators refer to Mariners as 'mermaids' and Mariners started calling Aviators 'fairies' in response," Arthur elaborated.

"And Francis started that?"

"More or less."

Alfred took a moment to chuckle appreciatively before he said, "And speaking of Francis, what's going on between him and Mattie?"

Arthur sighed and adjusted his belt nervously. "I don't know how much I can tell you on the subject, since it really is none of my business, but I suppose that you will either figure it out or find out eventually... He and Francis used to be together."

"Together?" Alfred repeated questioningly.

Arthur looked increasingly uncomfortable. "Yes... Together... as in boyfriends."

"Boyfriends? But... That... What?"

It had never even occurred to Alfred that two men could be together. It did not seem possible. Not that it seemed _wrong_, exactly; just foreign and unheard of. Things like that did not happen in America. Men dated women, and women dated men, that's just the way it was. That is all Alfred ever knew.

"I know that it may sound weird to you... Please don't think any less of your brother for it. You can't help who you love, and if you love someone, then something like gender shouldn't come between you. Your brother is one of the finest men I have ever had the pleasure to meet, and I sincerely hope that you can accept him all the same."

Alfred nodded. It was certainly something to think about. Something unexpected and unorthodox,-just like the airship crashing in his front yard- but something that really changed nothing about Matthew in the long run. He already knew that Matthew was exactly the same, and the same he would stay.

"I guess things have really changed in America," Arthur said bitterly.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Alfred asked.

"You know... America used to be called 'the land of the free and the home of the brave'. Everybody used to be accepted there. Everyone could say whatever they wanted and they could have any religion they wanted without having to be afraid of the Government chasing them down... But that was a long time ago."

Alfred was enthralled. "What happened?"

"It's a rather long story, but I suppose we have plenty of time," he paused as they stepped back off the road and onto the powdery sand once again. "I suppose it starts with World War Three. This is something you never would've been allowed to learn in history, so I'll just have to explain it as best I can... Well, the world used to be separated into different, uhh, geographical groups. And each group was called a country. Boundaries between countries would be decided mostly through war, but then a sort of stalemate was achieved with that after the second World War... After that, countries were more defined by the people who lived there... It would be hard to explain to you, but in simple terms, English speaking people would be grouped into one country, French in another, and so on. After that though, wars were fought for political reasons. People with disagreeing political or religious views would wage war on each other just because they could. Governments would lie to their citizens about different countries to make the people mad at each other. Tensions built for a long time for a number of reasons, but after awhile, World War Three happened," Arthur paused to look at Alfred. "Are you following so far?"

Alfred nodded. "Yeah, but I feel like there is an entire world of things I don't know. I feel stupid for thinking this now, but I didn't even know any land existed outside of the American landmass."

Arthur chuckled dryly. "There actually _is_ an entire world of stuff you don't know, but don't worry, it will be easier to understand when I show you a map."

Alfred nodded again, and Arthur took it as an invitation to continue his explanation, "So, after World War Three, the world was pretty much in economical tatters. And whenever countries have it particularly bad, there tend to be outbreaks of communism. That's the kind of government America has now, by the way. After awhile, communism spread. And now America is just one big country run by one communist government."

"What's wrong with that though? Communism, I mean?" Alfred asked.

"The people don't know the truth. They don't know about all the people that have died trying to escape America, or tried to tell people about democracy. They don't know what it's like to believe in a God, or have pets, or fly in airplanes. They don't know what it's like to farm on a piece of land and know that that land and what they can make of it is their very own. That their hard work will pay off. People don't know about science or history, or anything that lies beyond what they can immediately see. They don't know about any of the things that makes life worth living, and they aren't allowed to. If they get a taste of freedom, if they know the truth, they can't go back or the Government will kill them."

Alfred looked solemn. "Is that why I can't go back?" he asked quietly.

Arthur just nodded, mirroring Alfred's solemness.

They were approaching the ship now, and a rope ladder dangled off the side. The two men climbed up and Arthur showed him the first world map that he had ever seen. He saw the world how was before the third World War. Arthur showed him the countries, told him their languages, told him of their people and their customs. He told Alfred about cellphones, airplanes, cars, computers, and the internet. About gay people, straight people, religion, dogs, and guns. About the things that people's beliefs can drive them to do. About democracy, and about capitalism.

"So, my government isn't okay because people don't know the truth?" Alfred asked.

Arthur contemplated his answer a long time before he responded. "Not exactly... It is more the fact that the truth is kept hidden for fear of people realizing all that has been done to them. Of course, I can't just declare that your government is wrong. That is for you to decide. If you agree with our cause, then you can help us achieve our goal, and if you don't, then we will see what we can do to get you back home."

"What if that doesn't work though? What if I can't go back?"

Arthur shrugged. "Well, no one here will hate you for it as long as you don't hinder our attempts. You can stay here with Feliks and he will set you up with a job or a farm and you can just live your life however you please. But all of that is for you to decide."

Alfred looked down at the world map. Canada, the United States, and Mexico stared back at him. "What exactly is your cause?"

"We want the people of America to know the truth. We aren't trying to force democracy on them, we just want them to know what their government has been doing, so people will stop getting killed."

Alfred swallowed hard and nodded. "I want to help you however I can."

A smile spread on Arthur's face. "I thought you would say that."

"Not that I really want to go back... Even if I do miss home... But, why did I have to leave in the first place?"

"I don't know for sure, but if I was to guess, I would say that it is because you are Matthew's brother. I'm not sure if Matthew has told you, but your parents were the revolution leaders almost since the beginning. And when they got caught, Matthew took over for them. The Government probably never would have believed that Francis' airship just _happened_ to crash in his yard. So that means Matthew would have to flee. If he left you there, then the Government would either kill you because they would think you were spying, or hold you prisoner and torture you for information that you didn't have. Matthew really was just trying to protect you."

Alfred was almost dumbstruck. It never would have occurred to him that the Government would take _him_ prisoner to get to his brother.

"They would really do that?"

"It wouldn't be the first time."

The thought made Alfred queasy, so he changed the subject. "Why is everyone so interested in me after they know that I'm related to Mattie?"

"Like I said, Matthew led the resistance for awhile. And I'm sure you've noticed, but Matthew is just the sort of person that other people look up to... And I'm sure you've thought it at some point, or maybe you will soon, but people here aren't just nice to you because of Matthew. People here just genuinely care," Arthur offered Alfred a small smile, "The man at the clock store would truly love to have you work there. You should take him up on it."

Alfred smiled back. "I'll think about it."

Feliks opened the wooden trapdoor in the back of the room and stuck his head down.

"Hey guys, am I like, interrupting?" Feliks asked, a grin spreading across his face as he saw the two smiling at each other.

Arthur shot Feliks a look. "No, not at all."

Feliks' head disappeared and he threw a pile of clothes on the floor below before he climbed down the ladder himself. The clothes landed with a much louder noise than Alfred expected. He scooped the clothes up and he made his way over to where they were sitting.

"So," he began conversationally, "depositing the clothes on the table on top of the maps, and pulling another chair out from the table, "I grabbed your clothes, Al. And you can pay in the usual way for the supplies, Arthur. Are you going to take care of your debt while you're here?"

Arthur nodded. "Yes, I may as well stay awhile," he carefully pulled the maps out from under the pile and rolled them up neatly.

"Great, the wheat fields are short-staffed," he said, and then started going through the pile of clothes. He pulled a vest, gloves, and boots out and pushed them into Alfred's lap and gave the rest of the pile to Arthur. Then he stood up and rummaged through his pockets for a folded piece of paper, which he also handed to Arthur. "Those are the instructions. This will take care of your tab, and you can take care of the rest in the fields," then he turned to Alfred. "You need a goggle hat right?"

Alfred watched the exchange with interest and replied, "Yeah... But I don't know how I'm going to pay for it."

Feliks laughed. "Well, we don't bother with money here. We barter."

"Barter?" Alfred asked.

"It means trading one thing for another," Arthur explained, "I do embellishing and embroidery whenever I'm here, but it only does so much, so I work other odd jobs as well."

Feliks nodded and said, "Yeah. So, you can, like, work in the fields with Arthur today and that will take care of your hat. But if you would prefer something related to mechanics, I could talk to the man at the clock store and work something out with him."

Alfred shook his head, "I wouldn't mind farming, since they need the help but... I've never done any field work before."

Feliks waved his insecurity off. "Oh don't worry about that, you'll get the hang of it."

"And um... This may sound like a silly question but how exactly will working in a field pay for a hat?" Alfred asked sheepishly.

"Well, everybody needs something, right? So I set it up so that if you work in the field, the managers of the farm will barter with other people for other things and so on until you can have a hat."

When Alfred looked even more confused, Arthur stepped in. "For instance. I'll work for the people who usually do embroidery. And then the son of the usual embroider will work for the clock man for awhile. I can't do any clockwork myself, so I have to go the long way to get some of his goods. But if you wanted a clock, then all you would have to do is work for him for however many hours, and then that would be the payment."

"That's a really great system," Alfred said, getting a better look at the cloth on Arthur's lap. It was all thin and smooth, like silk.

Feliks nodded. "Yeah, we tried a money system, but we are too agricultural for that... When I say I run the island, it's more like I'm the finance manager."

"Hey," Alfred began, turning to Arthur, "Why don't I just work for the clock man for you? It might be easier... I'd offer to just try to fix the compass and baro-thingy for you, but I wouldn't know what I was doing."

Arthur looked slightly surprised at the offer and replied, "You certainly don't have to. I'd have to do some work any way to get the radio."

Feliks looked thoughtful. "Hmm, how about you do the embroidery for the radio and your tab, and Alfred works for the horologist for a few hours, then you can help him in the fields for his hat and have tomorrow night free."

Arthur looked at Alfred, asking him silently if that was okay with him.

"That sounds fair," Alfred said, understanding Alfred's look and then nodding at Feliks.

"Yes, I agree," Arthur said after.

"Great. I have other things to do right now, but you can tell the horologist when he comes over, he should be here soon. Oh, and Al."

"Hmm?"

"Mattie radioed. He should be back tomorrow night. So you might want to decide where you want to go by then."

Alfred was suddenly apprehensive. Everything was happening so fast. He could not seem to relax and stay in one place for more than a day. Part of him was convinced that all of this was some sort of fantastic dream and he would wake up any minute, part of him was sincerely hoping that this was the case, and the last part was hoping that maybe this whole thing was real. It seemed too fantastical to be true, yet too fantastic to be false.

Arthur looked at him with concern. "You look really tired... How about you turn in early and just worry about it tomorrow?"

Feliks nodded. "Fieldwork is good for thinking."

Alfred was touched by their concern and he nodded. "That sounds nice."

Arthur stood up and opened a wooden door off to the side. "We have a spare room down the hall in the last room on the right. Hold on and I'll get you a change of clothes."

Alfred said goodbye to Feliks and went through the door. The door led to a long narrow wooden hall. There were doors on each side and little lamps hung on the walls, casting a soft glow down the whole hall. Alfred noted that the lamps were real oil lamps as he passed by. He tentatively opened the last door on the right and found a simple guest room. The wooden walls were carved into delicate designs along the top and bottom, and a neatly made bed sat in the corner. A wooden chair and desk were against one wall, and a circular window was on the wall above the bed, and a little bureau was at the head of it. Another gas lamp sat on the desk and a packet of matches was next to it. It had a nice homely feel and Alfred admired the carvings as he sat on the- surprisingly comfortable- bed.

He had not really paid attention to the gentle swaying of the ship, but that and his tiredness were even more apparent to him as he sat. Alfred gave into the urge to lie down, falling asleep almost immediately.

"Hey, Alfred, what do you," Arthur began, walking into Alfred's room and seeing him soundly asleep. "Think of my ship?" he completed with a small smile. He gently placed the clothes on the end of the bed and was about to leave the room, when he noticed that Alfred still had his glasses on.

Arthur quietly walked back to the bed and gently took the glasses of Alfred's face. He folded them and placed them on the little bureau. Then he noticed the daisy and the handkerchief still in the sleeping man's belt. Feeling as if it was the most awkward thing he had ever done, maybe on par with hugging Feliciano in his boxers, he carefully removed both. The handkerchief was folded neatly and the daisy was placed on top of it on the bureau.

"I change my mind," Feliks said from the doorway, making Arthur jump, "I give you guys like, two weeks."


End file.
